Fear
by DivineRose2392
Summary: His fears are becoming reality. when Ulrich starts dreaming of death, he realizes that he's growing closer to it. He doesn't want to lose her. Rewrite of Nightmares. UlrichxYumi. This is a short chapter story.
1. Nightmares

He didn't know why. He didn't know why he was having nightmares almost every night. He hated the white hot intensity pain that struck his muscles, making his body incapable to move. He hated how his bones would feel like they're frozen, making him curl up in a ball and stay there. He hated how he was sore the next morning, almost late to all of his boring classes. He hated when his heart would pound hard against his chest. He hated how he would wake up in cold sweat; his pillow would be drench and smell like salt. Ulrich Stern didn't like this at all. Those nightmares were about one of his best friends in the whole world: Yumi. His grades actually started to go up just a bit, from studying and doing homework all night, because he was too afraid to go to sleep. The teacher's were very happy for him, but he didn't care. He was scared of seeing Yumi lying on the ice-like floors, drenched in her own blood…dead.

Odd was getting a little suspicious about Ulrich's sleeping condition. Aelita noticed that after he died on Lyoko; he would come back from the scanners, sit against the wall, and sleep while Jeremie is typing away like a mad man on his super- computer. Jeremie noticed that Ulrich didn't eat at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. He also noticed that he passed his tests, and falls into a deep slumber right afterwards. Yumi tried to ask him what was wrong, but he would spaz out and say, "Nothing is wrong! Really!" and then run off. He was a lot more aggressive in his soccer games. It was an advantage, but his friends worried about him deeply. He was so tired, that he was wide awake. He couldn't fall asleep.

Ulrich's breathing became shallow. He could hear screaming in his ear, like she was screaming right next to him. He curled up into a ball; the white hot pain scorched his muscles, but his bones were ice. He eventually gathered enough strength, passing the fiery pain along with the heart ache, and rolled out of bed onto the floor. He laid there with his eyes open. His heart was racing; the pain slowly began to fade. He felt his blanket fall on top of his body. He needed to wash it, because it was starting to smell like Kiwi. Ulrich wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand. He looked over at his roommate Odd; he was sleeping like a rock. Not even a tornado could wake him up. Ulrich sat up, and buried his head in his sweaty palms. He then glanced up at the bright red numbers on the digital alarm clock. It read 9:36 in the morning. He stood up, and bundled his blanket up quickly in his arms. The muscles in his legs were sore, and he flinched as the last bit of pain went away. He gathered up his towel, robe, a pair of boxers, shampoo and conditioner, placed them in his green bag, and then walked out of the room quietly. He dropped off his blanket in the laundry room, and then headed to the showers. He was the only one there, for all the other boys decided to sleep in on the cloudy Saturday morning.

Ulrich started the shower, and then stripped down to his birthday suit. He closed the curtain behind him, and let the warm water run down his body and over his face. He exhaled loudly and put his hand against his aching head. The water relaxed his sore muscles. A tingling feeling went down his back causing him to straighten up. He was tired and just wanted to sleep. When Ulrich was done with his shower, he dried off, and put on his boxers. Brushed his teeth and dried off the water that was still on his arms. He noticed that his hair was still damp as he put on his bathrobe, and tied the belt on it. He didn't like it when his hair was damp. It didn't bother him that much, but he liked it better when it was dry. He dried his hair, gathered his shampoo and conditioner, and exited the shower room. Once he got back to his room, he put his soap away. Odd was still sleeping. He was drooling on his pillow and snoring loudly. Ulrich quickly changed into his clothes, and then exited the room to leave Odd alone in peace. He dialed Jeremie's number. Once the ringing stopped, he heard Jeremie pick up his cell phone. Ulrich's brown sneakers were loud in the empty hall as he walked. His blue jeans were a little big on him, but that's because he didn't wear a belt. They weren't that big, not big enough to fall down on him. He had on a brown shirt, and then a camouflage jacket that was an olive color. It had two chest pockets, but it wasn't like the pockets on nice collared shirts.

"Hey, Einstein, you up yet?" Ulrich asked.

"I just got up ten minutes ago," Jeremie said. Ulrich heard him yawn on the other end. "But I know Aelita's up. She called and told me she was going to the cafeteria for breakfast."

"Okay, I'll go and join her. See you down there."

"Yeah, see you."

Ulrich hung up, and headed for the cafeteria. He walked in and saw Aelita sitting down at a table by herself, reading a book. Ulrich sat down at her table. She looked up and smiled.

"Good morning, Ulrich," she greeted. Aelita's smile was warm and comforting. "Did you sleep well?" He didn't want to lie to Aelita. His nightmares have been going on for a long time now, and no one knew. But, he figured that he could trust her with knowing his secret.

"Not so good," he answered. "I need to tell you something."

"Before you start, go get some breakfast, or you won't be able to tell me your problem."

"Is that a threat?" It wasn't much of one, but it sounded like Aelita wouldn't listen to him if he didn't eat.

"Yes, it is. You haven't eaten much in lately, and you need a good breakfast!"

Ulrich cocked an eyebrow, but for Aelita's sake, he got up and got some breakfast. He got eggs with ham and cheese in it, bacon, and some orange juice. He sat down back at Aelita's table, and leered at her. "Now eat," she commanded. Ulrich took a bite of his bacon. It felt strange as the bacon landed in his empty stomach. "Okay, eat more and tell me what's going on." When he didn't pick up his fork, Aelita glared at him, and he took a bite of his eggs. They were a little cold, but it didn't bother him.

"You promise not to tell anyone?" Ulrich asked, pointing his fork at her, like it was a threatening tool. Aelita smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Of course, Ulrich. You know I keep secrets."

Ulrich and Aelita stared at each other for a moment. Aelita's warm smile made Ulrich's body relaxed. The look in her eyes said that he could trust her. He took a bite of his bacon, and she took a sip of her orange juice. He never understood why she was so trustworthy—the only one that would understand.

"I've been having nightmares," he said. Aelita raised her eyebrows.

"Nightmares are normal to have—"

"This isn't normal, Aelita." Ulrich lowered his voice. He didn't want anyone to overhear their conversation—he didn't want anyone to think that he was losing his sanity. "I've been having them for two weeks. Every night! And they're about Yumi!"

"Yumi?"

"Yeah…and it's either she dies, I die, or I can't save her in time from falling off a ledge, and she's gone forever…." He paused and looked out the window. He could tell that Aelita had no comment yet, and wanted him to finish his explanation. "They're painful too." He looked back her. "The person who came up with 'you can't get hurt in your dreams', is lying right through their teeth. If I get stabbed, then I feel the sword going through me. I don't wake up. I can't move at all. And whether it's my blood or Yumi's, it feels real. Everything feels real there. I can even feel her pain too, and it hurts terribly. That's why I always sleep during the day."

"But you don't have nightmares when you're napping."

"They only seem to come to me at night. When I nap I don't even dream. But my body usually wakes me up before I go to sleep."

"I would love to rule out that it's X.A.N.A., but it may be the cause of your nightmares. We haven't had an attack in a while."

"William has been quiet lately, huh?"

"Yes, he has. His clone is getting someof _our _William's personality. But it's only little progress."

"Do you think X.A.N.A. is targeting me?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise, Ulrich. X.A.N.A. targets us no matter what, or the ones we care about at least."

"Then why does it always miss Sissy?"

Ulrich and Aelita laughed. He hadn't laughed in a while. He felt good, like a ton of weights have been lifted off his shoulder.

"I guess X.A.N.A. wants us to suffer," Aelita said. "But, Ulrich, these nightmares of yours seem serious. The chances of somebody having nightmares every night are slim."

"Do you think that it's possible that there's an activated tower, but it won't show up on Jeremie's computer?"

"X.A.N.A. has done it before, and I'm sure that it's a possibility that it can happen again."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"But nothing has happened to Yumi—"

"Yet," Ulrich said reluctantly.

"Don't think that way! Look, I'll run to the factory, run a Deep Scan on the supercomputer, and report if anything is wrong. Meanwhile, you stick with the others," Aelita said quietly. "But I'll sneak over to the factory tonight while Jeremie is asleep, so he won't know your secret."

"Tonight?"

"I've snuck out past Jim before. It's not that hard, you know."

"Aelita, I suggest you do it after dinner."

"Fine, fine, I will. Just to be safe. Now tell me your dreams."

Ulrich began to explain his nightmares one by one. He said that he would dream a nightmare one day and then three days later he would dream the same one. Aelita showed no sign of confusion or really, no expression at all. As Ulrich talked, on, he noticed that Aelita's pink hair had grown out a tad. The little princess that came out of the scanner was now becoming a queen. She began to have more sarcasm and wit since she's been on Earth.

"And I just want everything to go back to normal!" Ulrich said. "Where's Jeremie and Odd? They should be here by now."

"Jeremie is probably surfing Lyoko on his computer to make sure that everything is okay, and Odd is probably in the showers. It's only 10:15 in the morning."

"What am I going to do, Aelita? I get nervous around Yumi now when she asks what's wrong."

"You've always been nervous around her. You looked like you were going to faint when she kissed you on the cheek."

Ulrich glared at Aelita and she just shrugged. "Okay, not all the time."

"She was just thanking me for her birthday gift…." He ended up switching the bone and the necklace the next day. He apologized for the whole confusion. The bone was meant for Kiwi and the necklace was meant for her. Yumi just smiled and thanked him again. She looked excited when she saw the necklace.

"We'll keep an eye on her today; see if anything is out of the ordinary. Jeremie and I are going to be fixing the bug in the digital sea today. The Skid seems down, for when you and Yumi got back from the lab."

"Why?"

"It took a lot of damage, and we had no time to repair it, and because the backup disk that Jeremie put in was only a temporarily repair, just enough for us to escape. The navigation and coordinates system needs to be tweaked, along with the ammo hold." Aelita paused for a second to take a sip of her orange juice. "We're going to see if we can increase the shields on the Skid, too. And we just can't keep using disk after disk to hold the Skid together. It just won't work. So we'll be at the factory for most of the day. I won't be able to run a Deep Scan until after dinner, like you said."

"Thank you, Aelita, it means a lot."

Aelita smiled and said, "You're welcome. How come you don't want the others to know?"

"I don't want them to think I'm crazy."

"Ulrich, you've been through crazier, like that giant teddy bear that attacked the school. No one believed you."

"That is true. But this is serious. People see giant teddy bears. But they don't see what you're dreaming."

"I understand. You know, you can always do a scan. Didn't Jeremie teach you how to use the supercomputer?"

"Uh, sort of. I just know the basics. I don't know how to do a scan yet."

Aelita was about to say something, but stopped when Sissy came up to their table. Ulrich just looked at Aelita, but she didn't look back. He hated Sissy so much. He wished that Jeremie or Odd would come in right now. He stared at the doors to the cafeteria. With the luck he was having, his wish wasn't granted.

"Ulrich, I have to tell you something," Sissy said. She always had to tell him something!

"Excuse me, Sissy," Aelita said. Ulrich looked back at her. "But you are _rudely _intruding on our conversation. I'm trying to help Ulrich with something."

"Well maybe I can assist him better."

"You know, she can," Ulrich joked. Aelita played along.

"Really?" Sissy asked surprised.

"Yeah, you can," Aelita said, "you can help him by going away."

Ulrich and Aelita laughed and Sissy glared at both of them. She growled under her breath. It looked like she was going to drop her breakfast tray, because she was so angry.

"You got a lot of nerve, Stone."

"Is that something you don't have?"

"I have a lot of nerve, thank you very much!"

"Then you should have the nerve to leave," Ulrich said, glaring at Sissy. Her angered expression slowly turned frightened. Aelita looked at Ulrich and saw that he had a cold look on his face. It was the same expression he gave Yumi, when X.A.N.A. had the gang under control to kiss someone else. Even though it was a clone who kissed Sissy that day, Ulrich was giving her that look now. Sissy scoffed to hide her fear of his glare. She held her head high, and walked away to another table. Ulrich's face lightened up and he smiled at Aelita, which made her smile.

The doors opened to the cafeteria opened. Ulrich looked over Aelita's shoulder. He was relieved to see Jeremie and Odd walk in. They stood in line to get breakfast. Odd persuaded the lunch lady to get an extra helping of eggs; that made his day. They came over and sat down.

"You ready for a day of work, Aelita?" Jeremie asked with a smile. His red sweater, light brown pants with blue stripes down the sides, along with blue sneakers suited him perfectly.

"I sure am," Aelita said, smiling back at him.

"Has anyone called Yumi yet?" Odd asked with a mouth full of eggs. Ulrich and Aelita eyed each other as Ulrich took a bite of his eggs. Odd raised his eyebrows as he forked in another load of eggs into his mouth.

"No, no we haven't."

"Oh, well, someone should." Odd eyed Ulrich, and Ulrich's face flushed. It was pretty clear that he showed that he was annoyed. "Well, go on."

"I'm pretty sure she's on her way now." Ulrich stood up.

"Can I have your eggs then, if you're going to get her, Romeo?"

"I'm not going to get her, and go ahead. I'll see you guys later, I'm going to…to take a walk." He glanced at Aelita who just smiled. He walked to the front doors; he could feel his friends and Sissy, who was at the back table, stare at him as he left. When he stepped outside, he froze quickly. Yumi was standing on the bottom step. She had on her black shirt that had blue stars on the bottom at the side that revealed her shoulders, but her purplish-black sports bra straps covered them up, which blended in with the shirt. She had on black jean capris with her black sneakers. Ulrich began to walk over to her. She looked up and saw him. A smile spread across her face. He smiled back, just so she wouldn't feel awkward.

"I was just going to see if you guys were in there," she said.

"They're in there, if you want to go see them. I just finished eating."

"I can see that, because you have something right there." Yumi pointed to her own tooth to indicate the piece of food that was stuck between Ulrich's.

"Oh, thanks," Ulrich said. He wasn't embarrassed, for it had happened before. He closed his mouth, and then quickly removed the piece of bacon from his teeth with his tongue. "Gone?" He gave her a big smile.

"Yeah, it's gone now."

Ulrich was about to walk past her, but she grabbed his jacket. They looked at each other. Yumi's expression was soft and warm, causing Ulrich to give her a smirk. Yumi smiled. For them to smile at each other was a conversation. "Where are you heading to?"

"Up to my room to clean up a few things. I'll see you around." He walked away from her and headed for the dorms. He could feel Yumi's eyes on him as he left. It felt awkward. He went up the stairs and then got off on his landing. He went down the hallway and opened the door to his room. His area was a little messy, while Odd's was a pigsty. Ulrich tidied up his side of the room. He never was messy, and he didn't have obsession compulsive disorder. But he just liked to straighten up. He even cleaned up Odd's side. Kiwi just relaxed on Odd's bed and stared as Ulrich cleaned up. When he was done, he sat down at their desk. He finished all of his homework for the weekend. He would do his roommate's homework, but the teacher would tell their handwriting apart. He jumped as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that he had a text message. Surprisingly, it wasn't a message saying that X.A.N.A. was attacking. It was a message from Yumi. "Want a round?" he read aloud. His phone vibrated again. It was another message from her. "Open your door." He got up and opened the door. He looked to his left and saw Yumi leaning against the wall. She put her phone away. "Hey."

"Hey," she said back.

"Want a round of what?"

"A match," she said, walking up to him.

"It's been a while since we had one, hasn't it?"

"It has. I hope you're not rusty."

"Me? Rusty? Impossible."

"So that's a yes?"

"It's a yes. What are the others doing?"

"Aelita and Jeremie are heading to the factory, and Odd is coming up here to finish his CD and feed Kiwi. So, I figured we can have a match in the gym since I'm not doing anything, and I assumed that you were done cleaning. Let's go."

Ulrich closed the door behind him, and the two of them started to head for the gym. He realized that the two of them were becoming more like brother and sister. He didn't like that feeling, but if it was to keep their friendship going then he would have to stick with it for now, or maybe forever. He still remembers the day when Yumi said it was better off it they were just friends. But the feeling he didn't like is starting to creep under his skin and get to his head. He wasn't as nervous around her like Aelita said. The attraction between them was starting to die quickly. The silence between them broke as Yumi said, "Aelita told us that Sissy stopped at your table today."

"It was no surprise. I don't think she'll ever get the fact that I don't like her."

"You think that would stop her from liking you?"

"Liking me? She's obsessed!"

Yumi laughed and said, "I think that's the only reason why she gets up in the morning."

"If someone new boy came to the school, and he was more attractive than me to her, that would make my day."

"I think that's impossible for her and every other girl at Kadic to be attractive to another guy."

"Maybe if X.A.N.A. created someone better than me—"

"X.A.N.A. wants us to suffer, not cheer us up." Ulrich held the door open for Yumi and they exited the dorm building.

"Yumi, Ulrich!"

The two of them glanced to their left and saw Odd running up to them. He placed his hands in pockets of his purple pants, and then quickly took them back out. He seemed nervous.

"Jeremie just called. We need to go to the factory, because X.A.N.A. has attacked, and we have to go deactivate the tower before things start to stir up around campus."

"Then let's go," Ulrich said with a nod. He looked at Yumi. She looked disappointed, but smiled and nodded. The three of them dashed off to the factory, taking the underground way through the park. As soon as they got to the factory, they went down the elevator. The doors opened and Jeremie was typing away on the supercomputer at a hundred miles per hour.

"Go to the scanner room quickly!" he said, not looking up from his work. "Aelita needs your help!"

Yumi hit the down button, and they went one floor below. The doors opened slowly; a big gust of air blew past them. They got into the scanners quickly. Jeremie was talking so fast for their virtualization that Ulrich couldn't pick up his words. Ulrich fell from the sky and landed on his feet. Yumi and Odd followed them. They landed up in the desert.

"Um, Jeremie, where's Aelita?" Odd asked.

"I'm right here, you guys," Aelita said from behind them. They turned around.

"Okay, Jeremie, what seems to be the problem?"

"There's an activated tower just east of you," Jeremie said. The four of them took off.

"We think that X.A.N.A. is beginning to mess up the system again, and we have to get to the tower before he starts. As soon as we got to the computer room, there was an alert," Aelita explained. Ulrich caught up to her and looked at her. She didn't look back. They reached the tower and took a quick break. Ulrich stood against a rock and held his head. It started to ache. He could see his nightmares as visions. He slid down the rock, and pulled his knees up. He placed his forehead against them, and tried to not make a scene. "Jeremie, the tower isn't activated anymore," Aelita said.

"It doesn't say that it's activated anymore. You better wait a second. Maybe it'll come up again."

Ulrich's pain was getting worse. He looked up and saw Aelita looking at the sky, like it would give her an answer of why the tower is not activated anymore. Odd was sitting on another rock like a cat, and Yumi was staring at the tower. They wait for a couple of minutes, but nothing happened.

"Jeremie," Yumi said, "nothing is happening. Maybe X.A.N.A. is just playing around with us. He's trying to get in our heads."

_I think he's got to my head already, _Ulrich thought. He closed his eyes and saw blood being shed. His stomach churned. He saw Yumi lying on the ground, the pool of blood spreading around her rapidly. Ulrich could see the sword blade sticking out of his chest. His eyes shot open. His chest began to burn like it was on fire.

"She's right, Jeremie," Ulrich said as he stood up quickly, "nothing is happening."

"Alright then, let me devirtulize you guys," Jeremie said.

"We can just kill each other off," Odd said.

"Goodbye, Odd."

"What—?"

Odd began to devirtulize, and soon, he was gone. Aelita was next. She winked at Yumi and Ulrich before she was gone.

"Ladies first," Ulrich said with smiled. Yumi smiled at him as she began to be devirtulized. As soon as she was gone, Ulrich let out a sigh. His chest was still burning with intense pain; his head still pounding. He looked up at the tower and yelled out in pain. He closed his eyes. _He was standing in front of Yumi. They were in the forest at night. They were out of breath, scratched and bruised. _

"Ulrich?" Jeremie said. That snapped him out of the vision. "You ready?"

"Ready when you are." He began to fade. The next thing he saw was the doors to the scanner. He was sitting on the floor of it; the pain he felt in Lyoko had died down. The doors opened. He saw Yumi sitting on the door to the floor below them. She looked at him and raised her eyebrows concerned.

"You okay?" she asked as walking up to him. "You look a little pale."

"I'm good, I'm good. I just haven't been focused today." Ulrich yawned. The real truth was that he hasn't been sleeping. Yumi held out a hand. He grasped it, and she pulled him up. Her hand was soft and warm. He quickly dropped it.

"You ready for our match?"

"Let's check up with the others first. Then we'll have our match."

Ulrich and Yumi went up in the elevator. As they entered the room, Jeremie said, "The system doesn't have a bug in it."

"Maybe it's in the network," Aelita said.

"Can't be…X.A.N.A. is just playing with us. I have a feeling that he's giving us a signal that something bad is going to happen. Or something went wrong with the supercomputer downstairs. I'll go take a look."

"I'm going to go back to the room and work on my CD," Odd said. He stepped in the elevator with Jeremie. "Anyone else coming?" Yumi looked at Ulrich.

"You go ahead to the gym, Yumi, I'll meet you there," he said, "I have to tell Aelita something." Yumi nodded and stepped in the elevator. When the doors closed, Ulrich turned to Aelita. "Are you still going to do a scan tonight?"

"Of course. If there's something wrong with in the control room, and then maybe the super scan will work properly if it needs to be fixed. Now, go have your match with Yumi."

"See ya later, Aelita," Ulrich said with a wave of his hand as he began to head towards the elevator.

"Bye, Ulrich," she said. The doors closed and he went up. When he reached the bottom floor of the factory, he saw Odd standing just a few feet in front of the elevator doors.

"Okay, tell me what's going on," he said, placing a hand on his waist.

"What are you talking about?" Ulrich asked. The two of them headed for the stairs.

"I saw you in Lyoko. You were acting like you had a major headache."

"So maybe I did."

"No, no, I can tell when something is wrong. So what's wrong?"  
"Nothing is wrong, Odd!"

"Come on, Ulrich. I'm one of your best friends! You can tell me!"

"I told you—"

"It's pretty obvious that there's a problem. I can tell. Something is on your mind. You can't hide it from me, Ulrich."

As much as Ulrich didn't want to give in…he had to. Odd would find out sooner or later.

"You must not tell Yumi," Ulrich said.

"I promise."

Ulrich began to tell Odd about his nightmares. Odd surprisingly didn't interrupt him. But he stopped talking when they heard some twigs snapped. The stood there in silence.

"What's wrong?" Odd asked.

"I…I thought…." Ulrich gazed around.

But Odd didn't seem to notice that Ulrich was concerned about the twig snapped.

"It probably was a bird or a squirrel."

They began to walk again. Odd was about to speak, but Ulrich's vibrated so loud from his pocket, that Odd closed his mouth.

"Hold on," Ulrich said, taking his phone out of his pocket, and pressed the green button. "Hello?"

"Ulrich," said Yumi on the other line. "The gym is closed for the day."

"What? Why?" Ulrich asked, almost tripping over his own shoes. Odd was fidgeting with his purple shirt, which had a hood on the back of it, so that it would fit better over his long sleeve shirt that was a darker shade of purple. He looked up at Ulrich, who raised an eyebrow.

"Jim said that part of the ceiling fell, and almost began to tell the story of how he built houses."

"Great, that means we can't have our match."

"Match?" Odd asked loudly. "What match?"

"It's nothing, Odd," Ulrich said.

"What?" Yumi said.

"It-it's nothing," Ulrich said quickly.

"Is Odd with you?"

"Yes, Odd is with me."

He heard Yumi sigh, but he could tell she wasn't annoyed. She sounded happy rather than disappointed at the fact that their match was postponed.

"Maybe we can have our match another time. I'll meet you guys in the wreck room, kay?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"See ya there."

Ulrich hung up after he said bye, and stuffed his phone back in his pocket. Odd had a large grin on his face.

"What are you smiling about?" Ulrich asked.

"You and Yumi," he said with a laugh.

"For the last time, Odd, Yumi and I are friends."

"So you think—"

"If you're thinking of the pool incident, I will strangle you. And if you're thinking of that kiss on the cheek, she did it as saying thank you for her gift."

"Why don't you guys get your relationship on track?"

"Are you trying to give me advice on relationships? Odd, you can't keep one yourself!"

"Ouch, that hurt, man. I have a relationship…with Sam!"

"That's the only true one you _had_."

"I still _have_ one with her," Odd protested. "I talk to her a lot, for your information."

Ulrich wanted to change the subject, and get off the fact that he still had feelings for Yumi, but he wasn't quick enough.

"Where's the connection between you two?"

"It _died_. It died a slow and painful death."

"Your relationship with Yumi was strong before William came. But it seems to be building up again!"

Ulrich didn't say anything back. It was true. His relationship with Yumi went down the drain as soon as William stepped in. He had never trusted him. Even though William's clone was still here, he still felt a little uncomfortable around him. He was so angry, that he accidentally slapped Odd in the face as he stuck out his arms in frustration. Ulrich lowered his arms quickly.

"Oww!" Odd cried. He rubbed his nose. "What was that for?"

"Sorry…accident."

"Look, you still like, or 'love'—"

"Odd!" Ulrich yelled.

But Odd didn't listen. He continued on as if Ulrich had never shouted his name. His cheeks turned red.

"—Yumi, then show her you still like her."

"Look, Odd! I'm not going to jeopardize my friendship with Yumi to get our relationship going again…there was nothing in the first place."

"Don't say that! There was something!"

"Anyway—"

"Ulrich, I'm just saying you should try, since William is sort of out of the way."

"God, no! It'd make her feel awkward."

"It'd be like before he came!"

"Just drop it, Odd."

"…You still should show her you care."

They were silent until they reached the wreck room. But Odd wasn't following Ulrich in.

"Where are you going?" he asked him.

"I have to go check on Kiwi, and check out the gym. Seeing Jim mad is pretty amusing. I'll see you later!" Odd said with a smile. He ran off.

"I swear, Odd, you left me alone with her on purpose—" Ulrich muttered.

* * *

THIS IS NOT THE SEQUEAL TO NIGHTMARES! This is actually the re-write of it. Yeah, kind of the same plot, but I changed my writing style a little. Nightmares was about 21 pages, and this story is going to be going over 50. I wanted to keep it a one-shot, but I failed at that XD. So it's going to turn maybe into a five-shot or short story. The story is going to get better. I've been writing it for four months o.O. Right now I'm on page 36 of the story, and I want to get it done soon. 

A lot of people liked Nightmares, but I didn't. Well, I did, I thought it was one of my best, but it bugged me a little. I wanted to re-write a better version. And I got the Code Lyoko game for the Wii, so it got me going again. I tried to keep up with the epsiodes that already played, and then I was like, meh, I'll do what I want. I hope to God there are no mistakes. I've read it so many times, yet there is usually a freaking mistake. Grr. Anyway...  
PLEASE REVIEW AND I'LL POST CHAPTER 2! It'd make my day! and Happy New Years!

DivineRose2392


	2. Imagination

He entered the wreck room. Yumi was sitting on the couch, flipping through old magazines. She looked up and smiled as Ulrich sat down across from her on the other couch.

"What took you guys so long?" she asked him. Ulrich sighed.

"Well, Odd tripped and fell, and we had to wait for a while until his leg felt better to walk," Ulrich lied. He could feel his cheeks burn. Yumi raised an eyebrow.

"You're lying."

"No I'm not!"

"You're cheeks burn up when you do. What were you guys doing?"

"Talking…."

"About?"

"…About relationships…."

Yumi stared at him, and then at the floor. There was an unpleasant silence that lingered between them. Ulrich looked at the old magazines on the coffee table. They were issues from last month.

"Look," he said, looking straight into her eyes, "I don't want you to feel awkward around me, okay?" This made Yumi look up at him. "I'm…I'm going to keep to what you said to me about…being friends. I just want you to know, that I respect your decision. And, if you change your mind…." He was hoping she didn't catch the last part.

Yumi smiled and looked down. She was trying to hide the fact that she was blushing.

"Thank you, Ulrich," she said, looking up. "That's nice of you to say."

He smiled back at her, and the smiling conversation began. But their smiles faded for it was rudely interrupted as Sissy stopped by them.

_Second time today, _Ulrich thought. _What the hell does she want?! _

"You forgot to give me the keys back, Yumi," Sissy said. Annoyance rang through her tone of voice.

"Oh, sorry," Yumi said. She reached in her pocket, and pulled them out. Sissy snatched them from Yumi's hands. She then looked at Ulrich with a smile.

"Can I get you a drink, Ulrich?" Sissy asked.

"Actually, Sissy, I already got him one," Yumi interrupted. Ulrich just noticed the two soda cans resting on the couch next to her. She grabbed one, and threw it to him. He caught it. Sissy grunted and stomped away. The two of them opened their soda cans at the same time. Ulrich quickly slurped it, before it overflowed. Yumi giggled and he looked at her with a small grin.

"I think we should have our match."

"What?" Ulrich asked, almost choking on his soda. "B-but the gym is closed."

"We use to fight in the park, remember?" Yumi asked, and then took a sip of her drink.

"How could I forget?" Ulrich closed his eyes with a smile.

"Why don't we warm up? See if we still remember our old moves."

The one match he remembered was the second time he had ever had a match with Yumi. He closed his eyes with a smile. She caught his foot, making him hop backwards; he leaned over, grabbed her by her shoulders, and flipped her over his head. They began to roll, until he landed on top of her. The two of them stopped struggling when they realized that both of them were blushing. He remembered rolling off of her and laying down next to her for a while in silence. He opened his eyes and saw Yumi taking another sip at her soda.

"That sounds good—" Ulrich began, but Yumi's phone rang.

"Hold on," she said. He nodded. While she answered her phone, Ulrich put down his soda and held his head in his hands. He closed his eyes, trying to block off the headache that approached him. He could see Yumi lying on the ground, bleeding everywhere; her eyes were wide open. The image shifted to him running away from her, for he could not bear to see her dead. He was scared. He tried to block out the thought, but he couldn't. When he opened his eyes, he was lying on the couch in the wreck room. Yumi was sitting next to him; his head was on her lap. He sat quickly. He glanced left with his eyes, and saw her looking at him.

"W-what happened?" he asked quietly.

"You…you just fell on the couch clutching your head," Yumi replied in a soft tone. "No one noticed." He looked at her fully, telling her with his eyes to talk in a quiet tone.

"Was I out for long?"

"About two minutes. Is everything alright?"

"I just had a headache…." He looked away from her as he spoke, "It's nothing, really." He didn't feel his cheeks burn, which was a good sign. "So, who called?"  
"My mom. She was telling me that her and my dad are going out to dinner tonight with my dad's boss, and I have to watch Hiroki tonight."

"It shouldn't be bad watching him." Ulrich placed his hands on his head again. It felt like he just got hit the head with a bat. He managed to hold his scream back; he had swallowed it down. His throat burned, like he just swallowed something on fire.

_"YUMI!" he screamed. "YUMI! NO!" He ran over to her, and knelt next to her. He checked if she was breathing, and there was little breath passing through her lips. He held her, and cried into her neck. He felt her soft hair against his cheek, and it made his skin crawl with agony. He pressed his forehead to hers and whispered, "Please wake up." He couldn't bear her blood dripping onto his hands. "Please…." _

But he was brought back to Earth as he felt Yumi's hand touch his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at her. He wanted to cry. He wanted to tell her everything, but he didn't. He kept a straight face.

"Y-Yumi, can we practice tomorrow, or something? I'm not feeling—" But his world seemed to stop spinning. He felt dizzy.

"Ulrich, do you want to go to the infirmary?" Yumi asked quietly.

"No, no," he said, shaking his head, "I'm good, I'm good." He took his soda that was sitting on the coffee table, and took a sip of it. When he looked at his best friend again, she looked very concerned. "I've just been having bad headaches." He smiled at her for reassurance. She gave him a weak grin back.

"Um, yeah, we can practice, or have our match tomorrow if the ceiling is fixed."

"I'm so sorry, Yumi. I'm just not feeling too—"

"Ulrich, it's fine." She patted him on the shoulder. "Besides, it's going to rain any minute now."

"Then do you want to go for a walk—?" But Ulrich was cut off as his phone rang. He answered it, "Hello?"

"Ulrich, it's Aelita," Aelita said.

"Oh hey, Aelita, what's up? Any news on the tower that was activated earlier?"

"No, but Jeremie and I found out something worse. Odd just called us, and told us to put on the news. You better go put it on, now!"

Ulrich and Yumi ran over to the TV. No one was watching it, so they flipped on the news. Ulrich kept Aelita on the phone.

"Breaking news," said the newscaster, "a student at Kadic Academy was sent to the hospital after found in the woods just moments ago. Michelle has the full story. Michelle." The view switched over to the female newscaster who was standing outside of the hospital.

"Thanks, Ted," Michelle said. "Just moments ago, a student was found in the woods after a friend of hers heard someone screaming." The view switched over to a student that Ulrich and Yumi recognized. Theo Gauthier.

"I just heard someone scream in the woods while I was playing soccer," he said. "It didn't sound like a scream of fun, more like a scream of terror. So I rushed into the woods, and saw Naomi lying on the ground crying and hurt. She kept screaming, 'Get away!' and 'I hate snakes!' And that's what I really got out of her before she calmed down. But, I didn't see what happened."

The screen switched over to Michelle.

"We'll have more on that story later. Back to you, Ted."

Yumi switched off the TV.

"Something's not right," Aelita said.

"Alright, Yumi and I will go check out the spot, and see if something is up," Ulrich said.

"Be careful. If you have any problems, head straight for the factory."

"We will."

Ulrich hung up. _Back to the factory again! _He nodded to the door, and him and Yumi left.

"Naomi," Yumi said as they reached the edge of the wood, "was scared of snakes. I remember she saw a snake outside once, jumped on the bench and screamed how much she hated them." They began to step foot into the forest.

"Maybe a snake bit her—"

"No, it couldn't have been. She would've gone to the infirmary first. That's what happened when the glass shattered in my hand."

"I know, I was there," Ulrich said.

"Did I every thank you—?"

"Yeah, you did."

"I'm pretty sure that Naomi wasn't too far in the woods."

"That girl does have a loud scream, though. You could hear it from miles."

"You're right about that."

They walked in silence. The only time they spoke was when Yumi tripped over and root and Ulrich helped her up. They stopped when they reached the sight where Naomi was found. There were investigators and police walking around it, inspecting.

"Hey!" yelled a policed officer. Ulrich and Yumi froze as the husky officer walked over to them. The officer's walrus mustache was frightening, along with his meatball-like nose. "You two shouldn't be walking around here. Get moving!"

Ulrich grabbed Yumi's arm, and pulled her away from the sight. They stopped when they were far away.

"We can't look around if they're there!" Yumi yelled.

"Shh!" Ulrich hushed. "Don't yell or they'll hear you."

"Ulrich, we're far away—"

"You never know. Look, once they're gone, we'll just—"

But Ulrich stopped talking. His head was beginning to throb, but it wasn't as bad as it was in the wreck room. He heard twigs snapping. Did someone follow them? Yumi was about to saying something but fell silent when she heard more twigs snap. "Come on," Ulrich said quietly. He grabbed Yumi's arm again, and lead her farther into the woods. Whenever they stopped, the heard leafs and twigs snap. It had Ulrich's heart race.

"Ulrich," Yumi said, ducking from a low hanging branch, "I think someone is following us."

"We have to keep moving, Yumi."

Both of them screamed and jumped when Yumi's phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked. "Odd? Where are we? Well…we're in the woods. You?" The two of them began to pick up their pace. Ulrich took a sharp turn. They were heading for the house that Aelita once lived in. "Did you see or hear anything?" Ulrich pointed to a root, telling Yumi not to trip over it. She carefully stepped over it. "Alright, tell Jeremie and Aelita that—" It began to rain. Ulrich and Yumi began to jog. "Tell them that we're going to be at the house for a while…Alright, bye, Odd." Yumi hung up, and stuff her phone in her pocket. Ulrich opened the door to the house, and Yumi ran inside. He closed it behind him. They went in the living room and sat on the couches. "Odd said he got nothing, but he thought that he saw something suspicious."

"Like what?" Ulrich asked. He tried to hide his pained expression; Yumi didn't notice.

"He thought he saw a tall figure that looked strong and scary. But he said it was gone in an instant as soon as he looked at it."

"Tall, strong, and scary?"

"He said it sort of looked like a creature you'd find in a mythical forest," Yumi said as she rolled her eyes. The rain was coming down hard. Ulrich and Yumi sighed.

"We'll take the passage that's here to the factory as soon as this rain slows down."

"Ulrich, something was following us."

"I know, I know. Or maybe…it was just our imagination?"

"No, it couldn't have been."

Ulrich took out his phone and dialed Jeremie's number. When Jeremie picked up, Ulrich said, "Is there an activated tower?"

"No, not at all. Listen, I think it was just a regular attack," Jeremie said. "It could've been a wolf—"

"Jeremie, it was a snake. Naomi was screaming that it was snake that attacked her!"

"Then that must've been one large snake for her to end up in the hospital. Maybe she saw a snake, got scared and ran into a wolf."

"That's a lame story."

"Ulrich, I highly doubt it's X.A.N.A…."

"And if it was?"

"Then…then X.A.N.A. is doing a good job of not telling us that there's an activated tower."

"Odd said—"

"I know what Odd said about what he saw. He called me earlier. Aelita is waiting for him near the elevator."

"Did Odd say what happen to the gym ceiling?"

"Besides the fact that a small part of it collapsed? No, nothing."

"Oh, okay. Then that rules our X.A.N.A. causing it. Yumi and I will be over soon."

"Good, because Odd says it's chaos with the police walking around questioning students."

"Yeah, we ran into them. And we ran to the house, but it seemed like someone was following us."

"Are you—?"

"Both Yumi and I heard something."

"You guys must've been scared and were imagining it."

"That's what I said."

"If you freak out about it, you get the feeling. Just like if you're afraid of getting lice, and think about it constant, then your head will itch, but no lice."

"You're probably right. We'll see you later."

"Okay, be careful."

Ulrich hung up and stuck his phone back in his pocket.

"Well?" Yumi asked.

"Jeremie said that it was our imagination too."

"What about Odd's mystery man?"

"That thing disappeared in a second. Odd was probably imagining things, too."

Ulrich looked around; he was trying to avoid Yumi's eyes.

"So, did Jeremie say what he thought about the attack?" Yumi asked, looking at her shoes.

"He said that she got scared by a snake, and ran into a wolf or some kind of wild dog. But I highly doubt it. Wolves wouldn't live in that kind of area, and I don't think it was a dog, unless Kiwi attacked her."

The two of them were still trying to catch their breaths. It was the only sound in the room besides the rain hitting the roof. Ulrich was relieved when he heard the rain calm down after ten minutes. "I-I think we can go now." They stood up, and Yumi gave him a curious look. "What?"

"Did you grow taller?" she asked.

"Sorry?"

"I think you did." She walked up to him. He just noticed that he did get taller. He _was_ shorter than Yumi, but now, he was practically the same height as her. Her shoes may have been giving her elevation. "Maybe you'll be able to win in our matches now."

"Hey!" Ulrich said as his cheeks began to flush; Yumi walked down the hall to the back. The two of them went out the back door, and headed for the other door that led to the sewers. But when Yumi tried the door, it was locked.

"Who would lock this?" she asked, wriggling the door handle. "No one goes here besides us."

"I don't know." Ulrich kicked the door, but it didn't open.

"Ulrich, maybe we should go the other way."

"I—" _kick _"—just have to—" _kick _"—open—"

"Ulrich—"

"—this door!" Ulrich gave another mighty kick, and the door flew open. "And you wanted to go the other way." Yumi rolled her eyes, rushed past him, and he followed, closing the door behind him. They ran through the sewers and made it to the ladder that led to the bridge. Yumi went up first and Ulrich followed. He pulled the lid over the hole, and ran after her. They slid down the rope, and then got into the elevator. Ulrich slammed the down button. The elevator gave a jerk, and they began to go down. Once they reached the computer room, the doors opened, bringing forth a gust of cool air. Odd and Aelita looked up and smiled as Ulrich and Yumi walked in.

"Long time no see," Odd said.

"At the factory twice in one day, under an hour? Major déjà vu," Ulrich said, sitting against the wall. He felt very tired and had a major headache again.

"Well, I was going to say that you guys could've gone back to the dorms and wait there, but if X.A.N.A. pulls a stunt—again—then we'll be ready…again," Jeremie said, typing away on his keyboard. "Plus, it's a nasty storm out there."

"Hey, did any of you guys lock the door to the sewers at the house?" Yumi asked. Aelita looked up from her laptop.

"It was locked?" she asked.

"Yeah, Ulrich had to kick it open."

Odd had brought Kiwi with him and was throwing a rubber ball to his dog. Odd threw the ball, and it whizzed past Jeremie's head. Jeremie looked annoyed.

"Odd, if you don't mind, can you play with your dog some other time?" he asked.

"But Kiwi has been cooped up all day in the dorm! He needs to run around!" Odd said. Jeremie rolled his eyes, but didn't retort back.

"Anyway," he said, "the Skid's shields are going to take a while, along with the other adjustments. We managed to destroy Forest Replica, but we have four more to go. But these Replica's Supercomputers are going to be a lot harder to destroy."

"That's great, Jeremie," Odd said. "But doesn't that mean that X.A.N.A. is getting weaker?"

"And stronger."

"What?" Yumi said. She sat down next to Ulrich. He was about to dose off, but he shook his head to keep awake.

"We're getting closer—not by much—to defeating X.A.N.A.. But, the more Replicas we destroy, the harder he's going to get. Sort of like levels on a video game," Jeremie explained. "We're going to have to do these missions at night; it's too risky during the day. The teacher's are keeping a closer eye on us."

"Plus, we have to keep an eye on William. He already got into enough trouble with Jim when he sent his cup flying across the lunch room," Aelita said.

"But we did a return to the past," Odd said.

"I know, but we can't let him do stupid stuff."

Ulrich's eyes began to droop. He was very tired. He felt his muscles tightening. He just wanted to sleep, not suffer pain right now. But it was as if his tight muscles were urging him to stay awake.

"I'll be late for the mission tomorrow, then," Yumi said.

"Why?" Jeremie asked.

"My parents and Hiroki are going to be packing for their trip to Japan, and I have to be home to help. I volunteered myself to stay home to watch the house, and I also have a lot of school work to do. They're going to be going away in two days. I'll be late tomorrow, and then when they leave the day after that, I'll be ready to go."

Ulrich's stomach churned. As much as he hated admitting it, he wished that Yumi was going to Japan with her family. Ulrich closed his eyes. Images flashed through his mind. They weren't terrible at all. It was—

"So, it's settled then. We'll set off at nights," Aelita said. Ulrich opened his eyes and Aelita winked at him. He smiled and eyed Yumi. She eyed him back and she smiled. He just noticed that she was wearing the necklace he gave her for her birthday. But when he looked back at Aelita, she had a serious face on.

"Scan?" he mouthed. She shook her head.

"Got nothing," she mouthed back. It was good and bad news: It wasn't X.A.N.A., so then what's going on with his head? It didn't make sense. He didn't want to say that he was going crazy…not just yet anyway. Odd continued to play with Kiwi while Jeremie and Aelita worked on Lyoko. Yumi didn't move from her spot next to Ulrich. He bowed his head and then quickly brought it back up; he didn't want to dose off.

"Ulrich, did you sleep last night?" Yumi asked him quietly. Jeremie had on the news, and Ulrich couldn't hear her.

"What?" he asked.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Yumi asked again. He didn't want to tell the truth nor lie to her. She would catch him lying, anyway. It was best to tell the truth.

"No," he said quietly.

"Yeah, neither did I," she said.

"How come?"

"Hiroki was staying up late doing his project, and he was being loud. What about you?"

"I…I just can't sleep anymore."

"You look terrible."

"Thanks."

"Well, you don't. Why don't you take a nap, and I'll wake you up if anything happens."

"But—"

"Go ahead."

Ulrich didn't say anything. He closed his eyes. His muscles relaxed and his bones didn't feel like they were frozen. His heart wasn't beating rapidly. His head felt fine. In a matter of minutes he was out. His body didn't cramp up. There was no sweat running down his face. He slept like a baby. Ulrich didn't even have any dreams while he slept. His aching eyes finally started to feel better. But why? Why could he sleep now? He didn't understand what was going on.

When he woke up, he looked over, and saw that Yumi had her head rest on his shoulder. She was also holding one of his hands. He looked around and saw that Odd was sleeping as well with Kiwi in his lap, who was sleeping too. Aelita and Jeremie weren't there. On Jeremie's computer screen, there was a note with giant letters written in marker saying:

Guys, Aelita and I went to the snack bar to grab some food. Stay in the room, we'll be back with some food soon.

Jeremie

Ulrich looked at Yumi. He didn't want to move and wake her up. She looked too angelic to wake up. Did she hold his hand on purpose, or did she end up like that? He gasped quietly. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let his feelings for her overcome him. It would ruin everything. He slowly got up; luckily, he didn't wake Yumi up. He took off his jacket, and gently placed Yumi's head on it. She stirred a little, but didn't wake up. Ulrich sat in Jeremie's comfy chair. He couldn't look at Yumi. He didn't want to get the giddy feeling her always gets when he sees her.

The elevator doors opened, and Aelita and Jeremie came waltzing in. They were quiet as they saw that Odd and Yumi were still sleeping.

"How was your nap?" Aelita asked quietly.

"Good," Ulrich answered.

"Where's your jacket?" Jeremie asked. Ulrich pointed over to Yumi. "Oh, I see."

"Is it still raining out?"

"It slowed down, but it's still pretty nasty out." Jeremie handed out a candy bar to Ulrich. He was about to say no, but he caught Aelita's eye. She was glaring at him. He knew that she would hurt him if he didn't eat. Ulrich took the candy bar and opened it. He took a bite of it. He always enjoyed chocolate. He didn't even notice the weird feeling in his stomach when the chocolate hit it. Yumi loved chocolate, too. One time, when Ulrich stopped by Yumi's house to get her, she let him come in for a second. She had just taken some chocolate out of the fridge. They both liked chocolate cold. She gave him a piece, and it was the best piece of chocolate he ever had.

"Hey," Odd said. Ulrich jumped. He didn't even notice that Odd got up. "I smell food."

"Someone get Yumi up," Aelita said. "We don't want her to miss out."

Ulrich got out of the chair, and walked over to her. She shook her shoulder gently.

"Yumi," he said. She opened her eyes slowly. He broke off a piece of chocolate and held it in front of her face. "Wanna piece of chocolate?" Yumi smiled.

"Sure," she said. She sat up and took the piece of chocolate from him. "Thanks." As she took a bite of her chocolate, she looked at Ulrich's jacket. "Is that—?"

"Yeah, that's mine," he said as he took his jacket back. He put it back on.

"Ah," Jeremie said, "the scan is done. Just in time."

"What scan?" Ulrich said. He looked at Aelita who looked nervous.

"The Deep Scan. X.A.N.A. messed up the system, but there wasn't an activated tower." Jeremie started to check the status. Ulrich hoped that there was something…then again, if it was X.A.N.A., then they would be in trouble. "He's really messed up the system! There's no tower activated!"

"He found a way around it," Aelita said. "If the system is bugged, then X.A.N.A. has gotten more powerful. But, does it affect the Skid?"

"Where is he getting all this power from?" Odd asked.

"I don't know, but this is what I was afraid of," Jeremie said.

"Jeremie, why don't we all turn in for the night and work on it tomorrow, okay?" Aelita said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's getting late and we don't want to get in trouble with Jim. And Yumi has to get home to watch Hiroki."

"You're right. Let's go."

All of them piled into the elevator. The got out of the factory, and were now walking on the bridge.

"Ulrich," Aelita said, "why don't you walk Yumi home? I have a bad feeling of her walking by herself. With X.A.N.A. fooling around and everything, it's not best to be alone. You'll make it back to school in time."

"Is that alright with you, Yumi?" Ulrich asked.  
"Fine with me," she said.

* * *

I don't feel like reading over this. PLEASE PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE REVIEW! I would like this story to go BIG! If you have friends who like Code Lyoko, ASK THEM TO READ IT! because I'm working really hard on this story. **PLEASE REVIEW!**

DivineRose2392

The Code Lyoko game for the Wii is so much fun XD


	3. Sanity

The two of them split from the group and headed to Yumi's house. After a short silence, Yumi said, "Thanks, Ulrich."

"For what?"

"For lending me your jacket in the factory. That was nice of you. You didn't have to do that, you know."

"It was no problem, really…."

"Did you sleep well?"

"I…I actually slept great. I haven't slept like that in a while…how was your nap?"

"Peaceful. I enjoyed it. Are you up for our match soon?"

"I'm ready." He picked off a flower from a bush he was passing. He handed it to Yumi. She looked surprised but smiled sweetly. "For you, madam."

"Thank you, Ulrich. That's really sweet," Yumi said as she took the flower.

"You're welcome." What the hell was he doing? His feelings for Yumi were overcoming him.

He had the feeling that someone was watching them from the woods off to their right. He felt a chill go down his spine. His skin began to crawl. He was getting nervous. His heart began to pound fast. He hated the feeling of someone watching him. He was scared that it was X.A.N.A.

"What's wrong?" Yumi asked.

"I just have a feeling that someone is watching us," Ulrich said. Yumi didn't say anything. She glanced at the woods and then quickly looked forward. The two of them began to walk fast. Eventually, they started running. They ran all the way to Yumi's front door. They stood there for a second and caught their breaths. Ulrich leaned against the railing and looked out onto the street. Nothing was there. Just a few people walking by and the sun was about to set.

"Do you want to come in for a second?" Yumi asked. She sounded nervous.

"Uh, sure," Ulrich said quickly. Yumi opened the door and the two of them walked in.

"My parents already left—"

"Yumi!" Hiroki said. "Mom and Dad left us money to order out." He looked at Ulrich. "Hey, Ulrich! You want to see a new game I got?"

"Hiroki—"

"No, it's fine," Ulrich said to Yumi. He turned back to Hiroki. "I'd love to see it."

"Follow me!" Hiroki said. Ulrich followed him into the living room. As Hiroki babbled on about the new cool game he got, Ulrich could feel Yumi watch him from behind. "—and you can have all these new weapons and—"

"Hiroki, Ulrich needs to get back to school or he'll get in trouble."

"Alright…." Hiroki said sadly. "I'll see you later, Ulrich!"

"Bye, Hiroki," Ulrich said with a smile. He got up and went back to the front door with Yumi.

"I'm not kicking you out," Yumi said, "I just don't want you to get into any trouble."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Ulrich opened the front door.

"Ulrich," Yumi said before he went out the door. She was still holding the flower that he gave her. "Thanks for taking me home."

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget about tomorrow night."

"I won't…and hopefully we get to have our match."

"We will. Bye, Yumi."

"See ya, Ulrich, and thanks again." She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. Ulrich's face turned red. He smiled and walked out the door. He heard Yumi shut it behind him. He walked back to school and into the cafeteria.

"Ulrich, you're late," Jim said as Ulrich walked in.

"I'm late for dinner? Is there such a thing? I didn't know we had a specific time," he said.

"There is no specific time. But you usually come in here with the others."

"I was in my room, Jim. I had to do something."

"You're lying."

"Would I lie to you? I was doing something in my room. I was cleaning up."

"I'll buy it. You may proceed ahead."

"Thanks."

Ulrich got his dinner. Spaghetti and meatballs. He knew that this was Odd's favorite. He went over to where the others were sitting. He sat down and took a bite of his dinner.

"Did everything go smooth, Romeo?" Odd asked. Ulrich's face was still burning. He knew that he was still blushing.

"Everything went fine," he said.

"More than fine. You're blushing," Aelita said.

"It's red because I ran back," Ulrich protested.

"Sure, whatever you say," Odd said.

Once they were done with dinner, they headed back to the dorm rooms. Ulrich went in the shower before he went to change into his pajamas. When he was done with that, he on his bed and put his back against the wall. Odd asked, "What did you talk about with Yumi?"

"Nothing, really. We ran."

"Aw, the lovebirds chasing each other—"

"That's definitely not the reason…we thought that someone was following us. I was hoping that today when Jeremie said that he did a Deep Scan that there would be something. I was thinking that maybe X.A.N.A. was linked to my nightmares."

"Even if X.A.N.A. was linked to your nightmares—"

Ulrich's cell phone started to ring. He reached over, picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?" he said.

"Ulrich, it's Aelita. Listen, I did another Deep Scan and there still is nothing," she said.

"But Jeremie said the system was bugged. What if X.A.N.A. is hiding an activated tower from us?"

"It's possible."

"Are you at the factory?"

"Yes. I went as soon as Jeremie and I separated. Listen to me, Ulrich, just try as best as you can to keep your mind off of your nightmares. I don't know if it's X.A.N.A. or not, but I'm getting a bigger suspicion that it is."

"Can X.A.N.A. attack twice from one activated tower?"

"I guess so."

"Be careful on your way back, Aelita…."

"I will." She hung up. Ulrich pressed the red button on his phone and put it back on the desk.

"Why are your nightmares about Yumi?" Odd asked.

"I…I don't know. It's maybe because she's on my mind so much…."

"So you do like her?"

"Yes! I do! But, I'm her friend at the same time. I told you, Odd, I'm not going to destroy my friendship with her all because I want to be with her. I can't let my feelings get in the way. I'm scared that…."

"Scared of what?"

"That she'll hate me or that I'll lose her. I don't want to be her enemy. I don't want her to find out that I still like her and she would feel awkward around me. I just don't want to lose her like I did those other times we let romance get in the way. These nightmares are getting to my head, and the more I dream about them, the more I feel like I'm growing further away from her."

For the first time, Odd didn't have anything to say back. He just stared at Ulrich for the longest time.

"At least you show her that you still care," Odd finally said. He was right. Ulrich was showing that he still cared for Yumi. "Get some rest. Goodnight, Ulrich!"

The two of them crawled into their beds; Odd was out in a matter of minutes. Ulrich stared up at the ceiling.

_"Ulrich, we're better off as friends," Yumi said. She then walked away, leaving him speechless. _

Ulrich mouthed the words that she told him that day. She probably liked William. Maybe that's why she told him that.

_"Yumi!" Ulrich shouted. He ran over to her and grabbed her hand. He pulled her up from the edge and she got pulled into him. Yumi hesitated and looked like she was about to cry. He had just saved her life. She would've been gone in the Digital Sea forever if he didn't grab her hand. Both of them leaned in and were so close to a kiss…. _

_The next day before Jeremie and Odd came, Ulrich and Yumi started talking. _

_"We won't tell them what happened," Yumi said with a smile. She blushed. "Or what almost happened. Not yet anyway." _

_"Yeah," Ulrich said blushing. They smiled at each other. In class, Odd was rather curious as Ulrich stared out the window. _

_"Well it wasn't all that bad in Lyoko, right Ulrich?" Odd asked. _

_"You're right Odd. And I learned something too. Something super important," Ulrich said. He couldn't help but keep the smile on his face._

"Nothing happened to us," Ulrich said to himself quietly. Odd didn't move. He started to snore.

_"Yumi!" he said, shaking her. She gave shaky thumbs up. "Hang on! I'll get you out of there, I promise!" He couldn't bear to see the fact that she was underneath a tree when it was below zero outside. He tried everything he could to get the tree off of her, but nothing worked. When he tried to get her up, she gave no response. "YUMI!" He curled up and began to cry. He was scared. _

He didn't want to lose her. A tear rolled down his cheek. He could feel his heart racing. He couldn't keep his mind off of her.

_"That's really sweet of you, Ulrich," Yumi said as she accepted his gift. She leaned down and kissed his cheek. Ulrich blushed but grinned. _

"Why did we fall apart?" he whispered. He couldn't help the tears.

He could recall all the moments he had with Yumi. He didn't want to lose her now. Not ever. He rolled over and went to sleep.

Unfortunately, he started to have the nightmare. It was a lot worse than before. It was the same dream, but the impact came down harder on him. He shot up from his sleep. He looked around and saw that his pillow was on the floor along with his bed cover. He was hyperventilating; he slowed down and started to catch his breath. He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them. He felt like he was losing his sanity slowly. He started to hear Yumi whisper his name in his head. It was as if she was right next to him saying it. Ulrich placed his hands over his head and started to tell himself that it was just his imagination. Then, he heard Yumi scream in his head. He jumped out of his bed and darted out the door.

He ran down the hallway to the boys' bathroom. He switched on the light and head straight for the sinks. He felt like he was going to throw up. He splashed cold water onto his face. He needed to wake up. He needed to get his sanity back. He turned off the sink and let the cold water drip off of his face. He looked up in the mirror and his heart sank. He saw Yumi behind him; her face had blood running down it. He shook his head. When he looked in the mirror again he saw something else. It looked like black smoke. In the smoke emerged he saw kept seeing images of death.

Ulrich raced out of the bathroom. When he went through the double doors into the other hallway he bumped into something and crashed onto the floor. He looked up while breathing heavily, and saw that it was Jim.

"Stern!" Jim said. "What are you doing out of bed? Why are you running through the halls?!"

"I—I—" Ulrich didn't know what to tell Jim. He started to breakdown. Soon, he felt the tears spill on his cheeks. "I don't know..."

"Come with me, Ulrich," Jim said sincerely. He helped Ulrich up, and led him to the infirmary. "Sit there and I'll tell the nurse that you're in."

Ulrich sat on the bed and he couldn't stop crying. His body was shaking. Why was he so sad? He has never felt this miserable in his life. Jim came back in the room and handed Ulrich a tissue box. He took it but put it next to him. When he calmed down, he looked at Jim.

"I've never cried so much before," Ulrich said quietly.

"I've never seen you cry," Jim said. "What's wrong, Stern?" He sounded serious.

"I've just been having bad thoughts, and I think I'm going crazy, Jim…I feel like I'm not there for everyone."

"And that everyone is one person?"

"What?"

"Yumi, isn't it?"

"How—?"

"I'm not an idiot, Ulrich. I see you two together all the time. It's very obvious."

"I feel like I'm losing her. Have you ever liked somebody so much but you were afraid of letting them go?" Ulrich couldn't help but babble random questions. He was so depressed at the moment that he had to speak his mind.

"Yes. Reminds me of the time when I was a federal agent long ago. I met this girl, and she was the love of my life."

"What happened?" He was excepting, "I rather not talk about it", but Jim sighed and continued.

"Well, I had to let her go, because I was going to put her in danger. It made me heart broken, but it was the best choice. I didn't want to lose her. I was trying hard to let her go. It took a while until I finally set her free. I cried a little, too, you know. She was everything to me. But now my everything is this school and you kids."

"Jim, I don't want to lose Yumi. I keep…."

"You keep what?"

"I keep seeing her…die…and I'm afraid that it's going to come true."

"Don't let it get to your head, Ulrich. I know you're stronger than that. If you keep thinking it, it's going to happen. You need to tell yourself that she'll be with you."

"Thanks, Jim."

"Are you feeling better?"

"Much better."

"Good. Now, why don't you spend the night here, and I'll tell Odd that you're in the infirmary."

"Okay, thanks again."

"Anytime, Ulrich. Anytime."

Jim left the infirmary. Ulrich crawled into bed. He was lying on the bed that he and Yumi once sat on. He could remember that he held her hand as he put the band-aid on it, and then accidentally put his hand over hers when they were done. He closed his eyes and went to sleep. He didn't cramp up. He didn't sweat. He didn't move. He slept peacefully.

The next morning, Ulrich left the infirmary and went to his dorm. He still smelt good from last night's shower, so he just changed. He saw that it was ten in the morning, and Odd was gone. He got changed and went down to the cafeteria. When he entered, he walked over to their table slowly. The gang looked at him as he sat down. Yumi wasn't there. He was thankful that she wasn't. Aelita gave him a one-arm hug.

"We told Jeremie everything," Aelita said. "It was best not to keep it a secret from him."

"That's fine," Ulrich said.

"If this is about you and Yumi," Jeremie said, "then it's probably X.A.N.A." He sighed. "I'll do as much work to find out what's going on."

"Thanks, Jeremie. It means a lot."

"…Did you tell her yet?"

"No…and I plan not to…not for a while, anyway. I don't want to freak her out."

"Are you feeling any better?" Aelita asked.

"A little…I just lost it last night."

"I didn't hear a thing," Odd said.

"No surprise," Ulrich said.

"Are you hungry?" Aelita asked.

"No, I'm still full from last night's dinner…." Ulrich sighed. He took out his phone and dialed Yumi's number. It kept ringing and ringing until she picked up the phone. "Yumi?"

"Hey, Ulrich. What's up?"

"I was, uh, just checking to make sure that you were still up for our match today."

"Did Jim fix the roof?"

"I think he put something over it until it's fixed. I'm not really sure…."

"Well, I'm ready. I'm heading over now anyways. I'll meet you in the gym, okay?"

"Okay, see you there."

"Bye."

Ulrich hung up his phone. Aelita handed him a banana.

"You need to at least eat this if you're going to be fighting," she said. He took the fruit. He loved how she always looked out for him.

"Thanks," he said. He stood up with the banana in his hand.

"Go get her, Ulrich," Odd said with a wink. Ulrich just rolled his eyes and walked out of the cafeteria. He ate the banana on the way to the gym. He threw out the peel in the trash can. When he entered the gym he saw Jim.

"What are you doing, Jim?" Ulrich asked. He looked up at the ceiling because Jim was looking at it.

"There, the ceiling is patched up," Jim said. "After I put you in the infirmary, and told Odd, I started to work on repairing a ceiling. You know, I used to build houses and fix roofs. I worked all night on repairing it. It almost fell on one of the girls while they were doing gymnastics in my class. I always feared that the ceiling would fall…well, what are you doing here?"

"Yumi and I are going to have a match."

"Do you want me to be the ref? You know, incase someone cheats—"

"Alone, Jim. Sorry. But I need to talk to her."

"I see, I get it. Well, Stern, good luck." Jim waltz out of the gym. Ulrich was all alone. He stared up at the ceiling again. The ceiling looked like it had never collapsed. Jim did a good job. The gym doors opened and Yumi came in.

"I see Jim repaired the roof," she said.

"He did a nice job, too…shall we begin?"

"Sure…you smell like bananas."

"I just ate one."

"It smells good."

"Is it a distraction?" Ulrich asked with a smirk.

"No way!"

It was practically the same routine when they fought. Ulrich knew most of Yumi's moves. She couldn't lay a finger on him. But he got her a few times. Finally, Yumi grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him down onto the mat. She was on top of him, trying to keep him down. Ulrich felt his face burn up. He couldn't say how many this has happened. But he wasn't going to let this stop the match. It usually did. He put his feet under her stomach, and flipped her over his head. He quickly got up and tried to catch his breath. Yumi laid there on the mat.

"Yumi, you okay?" he asked. She got up slowly. "Yumi, I'm sorry—" She turned around, grabbed him by his shirt, pushed him back, and pinned him against the wall. His was blushing hard now. He wanted to kiss her so badly. She smelt like Japanese blossoms.

"I'm fine," she said. She was blushing herself. Ulrich struggled to get away from her. He felt his feelings for her swell up in his heart. He charged forward and knocked her to the ground; he landed on top of her. "You're very aggressive today. You've gotten better." Ulrich got off of her and staggered backwards.

"Stop! Just stop!" he yelled.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked as she got up.

"Yes! No!" Ulrich's voice was cracking. "Yes! Yes there is!"

"Well, what's wrong—?"

"Everything! Everything is wrong, Yumi!"

"What are you talking about?"

He glared at her. He wanted to cry again.

"This!" he yelled. "Oh God, I'm going to lose it again." He started to walk around the gym.

"What's _this? _I—"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!"

He stopped walking and they just stared at each other for the longest time. Yumi had nothing to say back. Ulrich spoke again, "What happened, Yumi?"

"I…I don't know…."

"You still care for William don't you? You still like him?"

"Ulrich!"

"It's true! Ever since he came we just went down the drain! Do you know how much that hurt me?! 'Let's just be friends!' It was because of _him, _wasn't it?!"

"Ulrich—!"

"Yumi, I still cared for you!" Ulrich shouted. "And I still do!" He was breathing heavily. He finally got part of his feelings off of his chest. His feelings had been bottled up for so long that he couldn't keep it in anymore. He didn't mean to snap. "Sure, he did too, but not like I did! He turned your back against you, and I stuck with you the whole way! And now I feel like I'm losing you!"

Yumi walked up to him slowly. She was about to cry. She looked angry and upset. Before she could talk, Ulrich said, "What happened? Am I going to lose you?" Yumi punched him in the stomach. He fell to the ground. He got up slowly and faced her. "I deserved that…." He looked at her. She had tears coming down her cheeks. "I don't want to lose you to _him._" He bowed his head.

"Are you talking about William or X.A.N.A.?" she asked nervously. He didn't respond. Yumi looked like she was going to hit him again. He felt his heart sink. He looked up at her innocently. It was strange that Yumi was crying; she usually doesn't. She lightened up. She wiped her tears, but it wasn't much help.

They both jumped when they heard commotion outside. Yumi cleaned up her tears and they raced outside. Students gather around someone near the woods. Ulrich and Yumi stood on one of the benches to get a better view.

"Everyone stand back!" Jim yelled. "Does anyone know if the paramedics are here yet?"

Ulrich gasped.

"ODD!" he shouted. He pushed past all the students.

"Stern, stay back!" Jim ordered. But Ulrich was kneeling at Odd's side. He was out cold. He was scratched up, and bleeding a little.

"Jim what the hell happened?!" Ulrich shouted. The paramedics pushed through the crowd and put Odd in the stretcher. Ulrich was about to go after his roommate, but Jim held him back. "Let me go!"

"You can't go, Ulrich!"

"But he's my best friend, Jim! Let me go!"

They stared at each other for a moment. Jim sighed.

"Go…I'll tell the principle."

"Let me go, too," Yumi said. "My parents wouldn't mind." She was standing next to Ulrich.

"Fine! But hurry!"

Ulrich and Yumi raced after the paramedics. They got in the back of the ambulance with Odd and headed to the hospital. Ulrich felt terrible.

Once they got to the hospital, they had to wait outside Odd's room until it was okay for them to talk to him. Ulrich and Yumi didn't speak to each other, nor looked at each other. Ulrich was about to blame himself for Odd's accident. The nurse came out of the room.

"You two can see him now," she said. The two of them got up and walked into Odd's room. They pulled up a chair, and sat on both sides of him.

"Hey, guys," Odd said weakly. He looked awfully pale.

"How are you?" Ulrich asked.

"Crappy. But, the doctor said that I may be out by tomorrow night. I didn't sustain too much damage. They didn't send me to the infirmary because I was bleeding too much. I'll be back in Lyoko in no time. These scratches are nothing. I was lucky."

"What happened?"

"You remember that thing I said I saw in the forest the day of Naomi's attack?"

"Yeah…."

"It was there. I was _big. _It was a creature of some sort. It had these big scissor-like hands, and it was nasty looking. Its breath smelt like dead fish. It was slimy and was dripping with ooze. I've seen it somewhere out of a horror movie…I was pretty terrified. It was actually a _scary_ movie…."

"Do you think it's X.A.N.A.?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah, I do."

Ulrich now figured out what X.A.N.A. was doing. He took out his phone and called up Jeremie. Odd asked, "Who are you calling?"

"Hello?" Jeremie said from the other line. "How's Odd?!"

"He's fine!" Ulrich said. "Listen! I know what X.A.N.A. is doing?"

"You do?! Well what is it?!"

"He's targeting people's fears. He's a shape shifter and playing with people's minds. He attacked Naomi in the form of a giant snake. You said that you were scared that he would mess up the system and he did. Jim said that he was afraid that the roof would fall and it did fall. Odd said that he saw a scary movie, and the monster in it scared him. He said that he saw it in the forest, Jeremie, and it attacked him."

"What about you? Is yours about Yumi?"

Ulrich glanced at Yumi who was staring at him.

"Yeah," Ulrich said quietly. He's got Odd, or almost anyway…he's going to target one of us next. Watch Aelita, please."

"She's right next to me and she's not going anywhere without me."

"That's good. Keep working on the system."

"I'm way ahead of you. Be careful, Ulrich."

"I will, trust me." Ulrich hung up his phone and stuffed it back in his pocket.

"Wow, X.A.N.A. is really messing with our heads," Odd said.

"Yeah, he almost got me last night," Ulrich said quietly.

"What?" Yumi asked.

"It's nothing…I was just seeing things…."

"Ulrich—"

"It's nothing, Yumi, really," Odd said. "He just freaked out last night, that's all."

"It was this nightmare I had," Ulrich cut in.

"Is that why you haven't been able to sleep?" Yumi asked.

"No," Ulrich lied.

"You're lying."

"No I'm not! I just can't sleep anymore!"

"Guys!" Odd said. He sounded serious. "Please, no fighting. My ears are still ringing from the monster's roar. And you two fighting is making it worse."

"Sorry," Ulrich and Yumi said.

"You might as well pretend to be friends until we stop this attack. We need each other right now."

"Right…be friends," Ulrich muttered.

"We'll let you get some rest, Odd," Yumi said. "Get well soon."

"I'll be on my feet in no time! The Amazing Odd never fails!" Odd said happily. "You'll see."

"Right, right," Yumi said. She kissed his forehead and left the room.

"See ya, man," Ulrich said. They pounded fists.

"See ya."

Ulrich left the room. He and Yumi exited the hospital together. They were silent as they started to head down the road. It was a very awkward silence…it was long, too. The heavy weight on Ulrich's shoulders was crushing him. He took a deep breath. He had to say something before they reached her house.

"I'm sorry, Yumi," he said. "I didn't mean to make you upset." It was quiet between them until Yumi sighed.

"It's alright…you just…scared me back there."

The weight of the world was lifted off of his shoulders. But it came crashing back down; she probably knows his secret now, even though it was obvious.

"Yumi…I think you should go home and I'll meet at your house tonight. Whatever is in that forest is looking for us. I would rather you be safe than in danger at the moment." They reached Yumi's house when he finished his sentence.

"I'll see you tonight, then," she said.

"Don't leave. I'll come and get you."

"Okay, Ulrich. See ya." She went up the stairs and through the front door. Ulrich headed to the factory. When he got there, he went down the elevator and went in the computer room. Aelita was sitting against the wall with her laptop on her lap and Jeremie was typing away like a madman playing a piano.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Ulrich asked. He sat next to Aelita.

"The Skid is finished with its updates!" Jeremie said. He didn't even turn around. He was typing away. "And now we're debugging the system. It's a pain. There are too many codes!"

"Jeremie, your head is going to explode," Aelita said. She was playing Solitaire on her computer. "Why don't you take a break?"

"I can't! I have to be prepared for tonight!"

"You're going to be dead by tonight."

"So we're going without Odd?" Ulrich asked.

"We have no choice. We need you guys to go into Sector 5 and check out a tower. It has some information that we need Where's Yumi?" Jeremie said.

"She's at home. I'm going to get her tonight…but I have some good news."

"What is it?"

"Odd is going to probably be back on his feet by tomorrow evening."

"That's wonderful!" Aelita said with a smiled. "Ah, another game of Solitaire down…and I was talking about Odd, you know, not the—"

"I know."

"All we have to do now is wait until tonight," Jeremie said.

When night rolled around, Ulrich took off for Yumi's house. He got her without her parents noticing. They headed to the factory quickly without anything attacking them. Him, Yumi, and Aelita went down to the scanners and were sent to Sector 5.

"Okay, guys, you know what to do. I'll tell you if there's a problem," Jeremie said. Aelita motioned for them to follow her. The three of them traveled through Sector 5. But, they got lost…again.

"Wait, we past this block before," Ulrich said out of breath.

"Ulrich, all of Sector 5 looks the same," Yumi said.

"I know, but I left a mark." Ulrich pointed to the slash mark he made in the wall. "Um, Jeremie, we could use a little help."

"You guys are going the right way. Just keep heading straight."

"Okay, follow me," Aelita said. They headed straight. But when they went through the passage, Aelita stopped short. "Jeremie! We were about to head off of a cliff!"

"What?!"

"We were about to plummet to our death," Ulrich stated.

"It looks like X.A.N.A. is hiding the tower…either that or you need to find a switch…I see no switch that needs to be activated, though. There should be a ledge that leads to the tower. We're going to have to bring you guys back—"

Ulrich looked behind his shoulder and saw Creepers.

"I don't think we can now!" he said. He started to charge towards the Creepers. Yumi and Aelita joined the battle. It didn't take too long to kill off all of them. "We got them all…."

"Oh no!" Aelita said. They saw William appear. "Jeremie!"

"It's not letting me devirtulize you guys! Listen, you need to make William go away and then I can get you guys back. He's holding you back!"

"This should be no problem," Yumi said. She threw her fans at him, but he just flew them right back to her with his sword. He used Super Smoke to appear in front of her.

"Oh no you don't!" Ulrich yelled. He ran and jumped on William. William tried to shake him off, but he wouldn't let go. "You're not going to lay a finger on them!"

"Get off of me!" William yelled. He threw Ulrich off of him. Ulrich flew back and hit a wall. He dropped to the ground.

"Oww…." He could feel his head pound and his muscle felt like they were on fire. His heart began to beat at a rapid pace. But, he fought through it and got up. He ran up behind William and tried to attack him with his sabers but William just blocked his attack.

"Energy field!" Aelita said. William blew her attack away while struggling to kill Ulrich off. Yumi threw her fans and it hit William's shoulder. William set Ulrich flying again. He was getting sick of it.

"Super Smoke!" William said. Yumi tried to hit him again, and even dodge out of the way of the smoke, but it wrapped around her body, and she was knocked out.

"Yumi!" Aelita yelled. "Energy—"

But William stuck out his other hand and Aelita was pinned to the wall. She couldn't move. Ulrich got up and saw Yumi floating towards the edge. He ran towards her and jumped on her. The two of them rolled to the ground. Yumi was still out cold. Ulrich quickly placed her in his lap. He put one arm around her and stuck out one saber towards William.

"I said not to touch them!" Ulrich yelled angrily. The force field around Aelita dropped. She fell to the ground, and couldn't get up. William was still holding her down. "Leave Aelita and Yumi alone!" William walked slowly towards Ulrich. "You want me, then take me! But I won't lose her to you!" William raised his sword above his head.

"ENERGY FIELD!" Aelita yelled. A pink ball of pink light came bursting out of her hand. William looked towards it and it hit him in the face. He vanished. Aelita got up from the ground. "And stay down, you bastard!" Ulrich looked terrified. He had never seen Aelita liked that. "Sorry…he's just so mean!"

"Nice work, guys. Hey, the tower is restored. Aelita, head to where you guys almost fell off. X.A.N.A. was just blocking the ledge from you. The tower is on it. Hurry up, guys," Jeremie said.

"Right," Aelita said. She looked at Ulrich.

"Go," he said. "I'll stay here with her."

Aelita nodded and took off. Ulrich put his saber away. He glanced at Yumi. He could remember clearly in one of his nightmares of how she was laying in his lap. But she's alive and not dead. He moved a piece of hair out of her face. "Yumi?" he said gently. He shook her a little. "Yumi?" She opened her eyes slowly. Yumi looked up at Ulrich.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine…you're the best. You really are," she said. He blushed. Yumi sat up and turned around.

"Okay, guys, which one is next?" Jeremie asked. Both of them ignored Jeremie. Their eyes locked. "Guys? Are you there? Are you even listening?!"

"Huh?" Ulrich said without taking his eyes off of Yumi.

"Okay, Ulrich, you're going next." He started to devirtulize. Yumi smiled as he left. When he opened his eyes, he was sitting in the scanner. He felt terribly weak and sick. When he encountered William, he felt the same pain as he did from his nightmares. The doors opened and he stood up. As he stepped out, the other scanner opened; Yumi took a giant step out. They went in the elevator together and took it up to the computer room. They stepped inside and stood next to Jeremie at the computer. "Well done, guys. Now, we're going to have to wait over night. _Hopefully _the system will debug. That would make my day. Let's head home."

When they exited the factory, Ulrich decided to take Yumi home again. He was scared that whatever attacked Odd may jump out at them; he wanted to be there for Yumi. They crossed the street and reached the front gate to her house.

"See you in the morning," Ulrich said.

"Bye," Yumi said. "Be careful on your way home."

"I will."

"Call me when you get to your room, please. Promise?"

"Promise…." He winked at her and left. As he made it onto campus, he felt the wind pick up. He didn't like the feeling that surrounded him. He could feel his head swell up with pain. Ulrich felt a chill go down his spine; he started to walk faster. He felt like he was being watched again. He started to sprint. He finally made it to the dorm buildings. He went up the flight of stairs quickly and quietly. He made it to his room, and locked the door behind him. It was lonely without Odd. Kiwi was sleeping on Odd's bed. Ulrich sighed and took out his phone. He sat on his bed and held his head in his free hand. He dialed Yumi's number.

"Hello?" she said after one ring.

"I'm here safe and sound," he said.

"That's good. See you in the morning."

"Okay, bye."

He hung up and then got changed into his pajamas. He fell onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling; all he could think about was Yumi.

_"Are you talking about William or X.A.N.A.?" she asked. _

Ulrich didn't know how to answer her question. He didn't want to say William. She would find out. Then again, she probably already knows that he likes her. He had never really seen her cry before. He must've made her really upset. He started to feel bad now. He felt like a big jerk. He made her _cry. _

_"You…you saved me. You're the best. You really are." _

He's the best. He went from being a jerk to the best person ever. He smiled at that thought. He loved holding her. He loved protecting her. He has had saved her before…but protecting her from William—from X.A.N.A.—made him feel like he was a hero. But he knew that X.A.N.A. was going to be on him now. He was going to play with his head even more. Ulrich got under his covers and went to sleep quickly.

_"Hurry, Yumi!" Ulrich shouted. The two of them raced through the woods. Ulrich stopped and waited for Yumi to catch up. She tripped over a root. He rushed over to her and pulled her up. X.A.N.A. had found them quickly. Ulrich pulled Yumi behind him. X.A.N.A. kept changing into different people and there were different weapons with them. One of them slashed Ulrich's arm with a knife. He yelled out in pain. _

_"Ulrich!" Yumi screamed. Her scream rang through his ears. His heart pounded hard as he grabbed her hands from behind his back. _

_"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Ulrich shouted. The shadowed figure turned into someone else. He too was also shadowed, so Ulrich couldn't see his face. The man hit Ulrich in the head with something hard. His head started to pound, and he was close to going unconscious. He was on the dirt floor. He got up slowly, and turned around. The man was right in front of him. He saw Yumi lying on the ground. The man started to beat him. Ulrich tried as best as he could to defend himself. He got a few good blows to the man, but the man was conquering him. He was throwing Ulrich everywhere. _

_But the man got a blow to the head from behind him. It was Yumi. She had a giant rock in her hand. She dropped it when the man dropped. She ran up to Ulrich and threw her arms around him. She started to cry into his neck. Ulrich hugged her back even though he was in so much pain. He felt her pain crawl under his skin. It was pure agony. Both of them were suffering. He held her face in his hands._

_"It's okay," he whispered. He kissed her gently. "It'll be okay." _

_"No, it's not! Let's go, now!" she whispered. But Ulrich felt something pierce through him. He looked down and saw that a sword was going through his stomach; it went through Yumi's too. They both turned pale as the man pulled the sword out. They fell to the ground. Ulrich could feel the pool of blood surround him. He glanced over at Yumi, and she wasn't moving, but he saw her last spill of tears come from under her lashes. He felt her cold hand in his. He felt everything go numb, but the pain dwelled inside of him. It was eating at his soul. He finally closed his eyes. _

Ulrich shot up from his sleep. He was sweating terribly. His pillow was drenched with it. He looked over at Odd's bed and remembered that he was in the hospital. He was all alone. He was breathing loud. His heart was about to burst out of his chest, because it was pounding so fast. He wanted to call Yumi and ask if she was okay, but the whole thing was getting to his head. He changed his pillowcase, and put the one drenched in sweat off to the side. He would have to throw that in the laundry in the morning. He kept looking at his phone; he didn't want to wake her up. But he wanted to make sure that she was alright. He started pacing the room. He wished Odd was here, he really did. Odd would talk with him. Instead of calling Yumi, he called up Aelita. A few seconds later, he heard someone answer.

"Hello?" she asked. He felt bad that he woke her up.

"Aelita, I'm so sorry to wake you up, but—!"

"Whoa, whoa," she said. "Calm down, Ulrich. What's wrong?"

"I can't go back to sleep. I'm losing it, Aelita. I'm going to go crazy!"

"You're not going to go crazy…."

"I don't know if it's my own instinct or if it's X.A.N.A. contributing these nightmares!"

"I really don't know what to tell you. I mean, we already know that X.A.N.A. is causing the problem. Jeremie is probably up right now working on the supercomputer from his room, when I told him not to. We'll find the tower and deactivate it."

"But what if it doesn't come up?"

"It will. X.A.N.A isn't that strong. With Jeremie's hacking skills, I'm pretty sure we're going to get around this dilemma."

"But what am I going to do now? I can't go back to sleep! I don't want to dream of Yumi dying again!"

"Play a video game or something. Get something that will help you sleep."

"That's the problem. Nothing helps me sleep. I just fall asleep on my own…well, I used to anyway."

"Do you want me to come over there and knock you out? Because I have no problem with—"

"No, no, I like to keep my remaining brain cells along with the little sanity that's left."

"You need a good night's sleep, because we have class in the morning."

"I know…."

"Think…happy thoughts."

"Happy thoughts?" he asked, like he didn't even know what it was.

"Yes, Ulrich…you know…something that has happiness—"

"Yeah, thanks, Aelita," he said before she started to talk slow to him like he was a little kid.

"Can I go back to sleep?"

"Sure. Goodnight."

"Night," she said, then hung up. Ulrich put his phone on the desk. He wanted to pick it up and call Yumi. He was trying to restrain himself from calling her. He crawled back into his bed, and closed his eyes. He started to think of happy thoughts…stuff that happened in the past that would make him smile. Ulrich pushed past his pain and suffering, and started to dig deep into his memories. He smiled a little as he thought of stuff he did with Odd…all the stupid and funny things. He thought of how he would save Aelita sometimes on Lyoko; he felt like a hero whenever he saved her. He thought of how Jeremie would try to explain something to him, but it just came out all gibberish, and it made him laugh. Then there was Yumi. He loved seeing her in the morning. He always loved their conversation of smiles. He couldn't stop thinking about her. He always recalled the time that they almost kissed. He could remember how fast his heart was beating. Eventually, Ulrich fell asleep.

He woke up the next morning to his alarm clock. He didn't even dream when we went back to sleep. He did his normal routine of getting ready, and went downstairs to the cafeteria to have some breakfast. He felt awkward walking to breakfast without Odd. He ignored the feeling as he walked into the cafeteria. Jeremie and Aelita were already eating. Ulrich got in line, grabbed a muffin, and sat down at the table.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Aelita said with a smile. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Fine," Ulrich said as he took a bite of his muffin.

"Did you have any nightmares?" Jeremie asked.

"I did, but—" Ulrich looked at Aelita with a smile and said, "But I pushed it away."

"That's good!"

"Did anyone get any news on Odd?"

"No, not yet anyway. I'm planning to visit him at lunch. Hopefully they'll let him come home today."

"We could really use him on Lyoko," Aelita said. Ulrich continued to eat big pieces of his muffin until eventually there was nothing to pick at.

"LISTEN UP PEOPLE!" Jim yelled from the front of the cafeteria. Jeremie turned around in his chair to look at him. The placed fell silent. Jim cleared his throat and said, "There is a dance this Friday! Now, there are flyers around the school, or—" he slammed orange flyers down on to the table next to him, "—you can find them here! That is all!" Jim then walked out of the cafeteria.

"A dance? I thought we already had one?" Ulrich said.

"We did," Jeremie said, "but the principal feels that we need to socialize more instead of being in our little groups."

"I'll be right back. I'm going to go get one," Aelita said. She got and pushed through the crowd that was around the table, and grabbed a flyer. She came back with three of them. She gave one to Ulrich and Jeremie.

"I don't like the sound of it," Ulrich said. "I have a feeling that X.A.N.A. has something up his sleeve."

"Relax, Ulrich," Aelita said, "you're going to go to this dance."

"Why?"

"Don't make me hurt you."

"But—"

"You need to have a little fun after all the crap you've been going through."

"Are you going to be performing?"

"If they as me I will. I kind of do and I don't."

"You're the only true DJ we have." Ulrich read the paper over and over. The dance was going to be held in the gym Friday night.

"Are you going to take Yumi?" Aelita asked.

"Uh…no! I mean, we're just friends after all—"

"That doesn't matter," Jeremie said. "You can go as friends."

"Right! Just as friends! That's good!" Ulrich said quickly. "But…I have to ask her first."

"I'm sure she'll say yes," Aelita said.

"I'll go ask her now. She's probably here by now. Plus, I really don't Sissy to bug me by making me go with her." Ulrich picked up his bag, threw his wrapper from his muffin away, and went outside. He sat down on one of the benches and took out his phone.

"You are you calling?" he heard someone asked. He looked up and saw Yumi.

"No one," he said. He put the phone back in his pocket.

"It looks like you didn't get enough sleep last night. You got rings under your eyes."

"Yeah, I noticed when I was brushing my teeth…."

"What's the paper for?"

Ulrich handed her the flyer. She read it quickly and said, "Another school dance?"

"Yup."

"This Friday?"

"Yup."

"Are you going?"

"No—I mean—yup! Speaking of which, I was wondering if you wanted to go together. You know, as friends…."

"That sounds good to me!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. What if Millie asks you again like that one time?"

"I don't think she will. I think Hiroki is going to go for her."

"Oh, right, I forgot about that.  
"Besides, we've never really had the chance to dance together. I went with Millie the first time—"

"And Sissy interrupted us the other time when we had the techno rave…I guess third time will be the charm, no?"

"I think it will. Did you get any news on Odd?"

"I got nothing. He's probably coming back tonight. I don't think he would want to miss this dance. You know how wild Odd gets."

"I know better than you do. I room with him."

"At least you didn't switch bodies with him…."

"That was for about a day and a half."

"I was in _his _body."

They stared at each other and then burst out laughing. They smiled and Ulrich asked, "What time should I come on Friday—?"But he stopped. His head started hurting. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. _The different colored lights flashed onto the dance floor. He could felt her body move against his. He found that his hands were on her waist, and that her arms were around his neck. He blocked out the world around him and concentrated on her. He knew that people were watching, but he didn't care._

_"It's getting hot in here," Yumi said in his ear. Ulrich could feel his face burn up. He looked at her as they stopped dancing. _

_"Do you want to go outside for a while?" he asked back. He was so close her. _

_"Yeah." _

Ulrich opened his eyes. He heard something scream loud like the person was right next to him, but no one was screaming. He looked around and then finally back at Yumi. His face flushed. She looked baffled.

"Sorry," Ulrich said quietly. "My head has been hurting lately."

"I've noticed."

"But, uh, anyway—" He wanted to change the subject. He looked Yumi up and down, like he was checking her out.

"Ulrich—"

"Huh?!" Ulrich said hesitantly.

"Were you…were you just checking me out?"

"NO!"

"Because—"

"I wasn't! I swear!"

"If you say so."

"Anyway," Ulrich said quickly; his face turned red. "What time would you like me to come and get you?"

"Around seven should be fine," Yumi said as she looked at the paper. "It's another techno rave."

"Then it should be a lot of fun!"

"Hopefully Sissy won't interrupt us…."

"Then we'll stick close together." Ulrich gaped after he said that. Yumi's face turned red. "I mean—!"

"I know what you mean."

Ulrich looked away. He was embarrassed. The bell rang, and Ulrich said, "I'll see you at break."

"Okay, bye, Ulrich," Yumi said. They gave each other a simple grin, and Yumi parted. Ulrich waited for Jeremie and Aelita to come out of the cafeteria. Once they did, they walked to class together. They went into the Science classroom and took their seats.

"So what did she say?" Aelita asked from behind Ulrich. He turned around in his chair.

"She said yes," he said with a smile.

"Good, now all you have to do is get together with her!"

"Aelita!"

"I have to agree with her," Jeremie said.

"Jeremie! Guys, for the last time, Yumi and I are just friends, and we're going to keep it that way! That's the way she wanted our relationship to be!" Ulrich turned around in his seat. He wished Odd was here...but then again, Odd would side with them.

"Yeah, but not for long," Aelita whispered.

"I hate you guys," Ulrich said as he put his head on the table. The bell rang, and Ms. Hertz closed the classroom door and said, "Please, everyone take your seats, and we'll get started! We have a lot of work to do today! And I need to pass back last weeks tests!" Ulrich propped his elbow up on the table, and rested his cheek in his palm. He looked over at the empty seat next to him and sighed. He prayed that Odd would return tonight….

Ms Hertz walked up to his table.

"Hmm, how is Mr. Della Robbia doing?" Ms. Hertz asked Ulrich.

"I'm guessing that he is doing well. He may return to the school tonight," Ulrich said.

"Well, if you can, can you please give him his test, Mr. Stern?" She put Odd's paper in front of Ulrich. "And I have to say, Ulrich—" She put another test in front of him; it was his own test. In red ink at the top of his paper was the number 91. He gaped. He had never gotten an A on his test before in Science. "You're working your way on becoming the next Jeremie. Keep up the good work." She then walked to Jeremie's table. Ulrich picked up his test and looked at it.

"Wow," he whispered. He recounted the five sleepless days that he used to study for the Science test he was holding in his hands.

"How did you do, Ulrich?" Aelita whispered from behind him. He turned around in his seat, and showed him his test with a smile.

"Amazing!" Jeremie said.

"Was that sarcasm?" Ulrich asked.

"No, I mean it! It's amazing!"

He turned back around in his seat, and compared his test to Odd's. Odd didn't do too badly; he maintained his C average like usual.

* * *

I've been staring at the computer screen _way _too long, and my eyes hurt, so I kind of gave up on editing when I had five pages left to read. There are probably some mistakes, but don't bother telling me. I'll find them. Okay, I feel like I'm making Ulrich seem like he's a whimp...but, heck, I mean, I'd be a whimp if I was terrified...  
Anyway, the rest of this story may have...I don't want to say sexual activity, hell no. Hmm...sexual tension, I guess. And Yumi is sixteen and Ulrich is fifteen in my story...because it just seems better that way, lmao. But, I've been listening to all these songs that have a lot of sexual stuff in it, even though they're good songs, and I would want to make the story seem more realistic and feel the emotion that young teens would feel at their age. So, if you find it disturbing (for God sake, it's not going to be a lemon story), then just skip it. But teens our age...there's so much sexual stuff o.O. Take the movie "Juno" for instants XD, but that was a really good movie. I loved it.  
I wanted to show a softer side to Yumi, because after having a marathon of Code Lyoko on Youtube, I saw that she had a short temper, but I still love her :3 and I wanted her to be a little softer...but I still think she kicks ass. Don't worry, she'll toughen up in this story. And in Season 4, they seemed more like friends :(...grr.  
THEY BETTER MAKE A SEASON 5, DAMN IT!  
ANYWAY! **REVIEW OR I WON'T POST THE NEXT CHAPTER...**(...which will probably be written in...two weeks...) 

DivineRose2392 (is losing her sanity and vision bit by bit).

I get so many favs on this story, but no reviews :(

AND YAY FOR LONG CHAPTERS :D


	4. Decode

Through the whole class, Ms. Hertz went over the test. He decided to daydream the whole time. He didn't daydream of anything important—nothing about Yumi. He couldn't think about her anymore. She was usually going through his mind twenty-four seven—it was like she was a disease. A good one, though.

He snapped out of his thoughts when the bell rang. He gathered up his belongings and left the room without Aelita and Jeremie. The whole day went by fast, and he wasn't excited for tonight.

But, at the end of the day, the three of them went into Jeremie's room. Yumi was at home, waiting for her family to leave for the airport. Ulrich sat on the bed with a blank look upon his face. Aelita was sitting next to him, but didn't bother to talk to him. His mind was not focused on the room or on anyone. No matter how terrified he was, he couldn't tell anyone. He didn't want to go to Lyoko, nor did he want to go to sleep.

"We're going to have to go to the Desert Sector tonight," Jeremie said, typing away at his computer. Aelita gave him a surprised look.

"Shouldn't we go back to Sector 5 to get the data restored?" she asked him. But Jeremie shook his head, turned around in his chair. Ulrich raised his eyebrows as he saw the red rings under Jeremie's eyes. The genius folded his hands, propped up his elbows on his knees, and pressed his forehead against his thumbs.

"Not all of the information is in Sector 5. The basics are not in there. Xana bugged up the system pretty well. I have to fix the basics such as life points and your guys' abilities." He gave a long sigh of frustration and said, "It's going to be pretty dangerous tonight. And if Odd doesn't come back tonight, you guys may not make it, because I have a feeling William is going to show up again."

"Hey," Ulrich said darkly, "we defeated him last time."

"Barely. You guys almost got died, meaning you almost failed the mission, and not to mention that Yumi almost got killed."

"I saved her," Ulrich growled.

"Yes, we know that, but if Aelita didn't break free, the two of you would've been gone."

"We did the mission! That's all that matters!" Aelita yelled before Ulrich could retort back at Jeremie. She pulled her laptop that was sitting next to her up onto her lap and started a game of Solitaire. It became quiet in the room except for when Jeremie turned in his chair to face the computer screen and the clicking of the mouse.

"Aelita, why do you always play Solitaire?" Ulrich asked after a while. He didn't face her when he asked; he was staring at the pink and orange clouds outside.

"It keeps my mind going," she said. "I like puzzles, especially card games." She paused for a moment and then glanced at Ulrich. "Life is like a game of Solitaire. You never know what card you'll flip over, you'll never know what will happen next in your life. It's more like a game of luck and a little skill with a side of patience and concentration…to me anyways." She started another game.

Ulrich titled his head until it hit the wall. All of the sudden, his pocket started to vibrate. He jumped and Aelita glanced at him.

"Um," he said quickly. "My phone." He took it out of his pocket and saw that he had a text. "Open the door, or I'll kill you. From Yumi…."

Ulrich got up, and opened the door; as he opened it a little, it suddenly flung open. He stumbled backwards, tripping over his shoes and fell down.  
"SURPRISE!" yelled a familiar voice. Aelita burst out laughing. Ulrich joined her. Jeremie turned around and his eyes grew wide. There was Yumi, with an annoyed expression on her face, and Odd was in her arms, with a huge smile on his face.

"GET OUT!" Yumi yelled.

"Drop me off the bed," Odd ordered. Yumi just tossed him onto the bed; Aelita quickly moved before she got hit. She was still laughing hysterically with Ulrich. She looked at Odd, who gave her a smirk.

"Welcome back, my knight!" she said happily.

"Good to see you, Princess!" Odd said happily. Yumi closed the door behind her, and took a seat next to Ulrich on the floor, and rested against Jeremie's wardrobe. Odd looked at Yumi and said, "That's for the lift."

"Yeah, you're welcome," Yumi muttered.

"It's good to have you back, Odd," Jeremie said.

"What, lost without me?" Odd asked with a cheesy grin. Ulrich pulled up next to Yumi, so that he could get out of Jeremie's way for when he spun around. He lounged back; his muscles seemed to relax. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Yumi stretch out her legs. She glanced at him. Their eyes locked for a moment before they turned to look away.

"Pretty much," Aelita said, answering Odd's question.

"So, Einstein," Odd said, "what's the mission for tonight?"

"When Jim is patrolling, we'll sneak out," Jeremie said. He looked at Yumi. "What about your parents?"

"They already left for the airport. My dad wanted to get there early…."

"Well, that's good. Anyway, you need to report to the Desert Region. That's where we'll be able to pick up your basics that got erased."

Odd's stomach growled loud.

"Um," he said, "can we eat first? I barely ate that nasty hospital stuff they call food."

"Sure," Jeremie sighed.

As the reached the cafeteria, Ulrich could feel the old familiar feeling. The feeling of no trouble. The feeling of not having to worry about missions as much. The feeling of being with his friends. Unfortunately, the got there late, and not much was left. Ulrich decided to skip out.

"Ulrich," Yumi said quietly as she got silverware.

"Hmm?"

"You know—" she held out a fork to him "—you can share with me if you want. I don't think I'm going to finish it all."

"It's alright, Yumi. You need to eat."

"So do you. Please. It wouldn't seem fair if you didn't eat. And you know how Aelita will get if you're not eating."

Ulrich flinched when he had the mental image of Aelita stuffing food in his mouth with force. He looked at Yumi for a moment. He couldn't believe how tall he'd become. Though she was still an inch tall than him, he didn't feel so small next to her. His eyes drifted to the fork she was holding out with one hand. He smiled softly, and took the other end of the fork. Yumi seemed happy, and gave him a wink. She took her tray, and the two of them went to go sit with the others. Tonight's dinner was spaghetti and meatballs, one of Odd's favorite meals. The two of them sat next to each other.

"Sharing a meal," Aelita said. She then smirked. "How cute."

Both Ulrich and Yumi blushed and glared at her. Aelita just giggled. Ulrich bowed his to hide his embarrassment.

"Lady and Tramp, much?" Odd snickered.

"If you keep talking, I place you back in the hospital," Ulrich growled. The other three laughed, and Yumi smiled. While they ate, a few students welcomed back Odd. Some gave him a hug, and others just patted him on his back.

"So what is the real reason why you didn't want to go to Tokyo?" Ulrich asked Yumi quietly so the others wouldn't hear.

As Yumi twirled spaghetti on her fork, she answered, "Well, Lyoko is one of the reasons. I've been to Japan so many times I know the streets like the back of my hand. It's a beautiful country, and Tokyo is amazing, but I'd rather just stay home with my second family for a change. My parents understand the school work thing…which I really do need to catch up on."

"Join the club."

"Your grades have been slipping? I thought you brought them up?"

"Oh, I did. It's just…I've felt like I've still missed a ton because of Lyoko…but I get out of class, so it doesn't matter. As long as my grades are good, it makes my parents happy. And if my parents are happy, then I'm happy."

"I can't say that it's the same with my parents, but it's similar."

They glanced at each other for a moment, and she winked at him again. Ulrich felt his face flush and little, but he smiled anyway. The one thing he liked about Yumi is that she understood him. Jeremie and Odd got along with their parents, and the two of them…didn't. They had family issues.

"So, Jeremie," Odd said as he swallowed his food, "are all of our powers gone?"

"No, you still have your powers, but they're a little bugged, along with your life points. So if you get hit once, you may just get devirtulized," Jeremie explained. He was pushing his food around with this fork.

Ulrich found himself doing the same thing. He was barely eating any of it. Yumi leaned over and whispered, "Aelita is about to give you a death stare if you don't start eating." He suddenly shoveled a mouthful of spaghetti in his mouth, and Yumi laughed. As he ate, he couldn't help but chuckle himself. He swallowed and laughed with her. The other three looked at them strangely.

Jeremie shrugged it off and then said, "Anyway, tonight is going to be complicated."

"That's only if William shows up," Aelita said quietly. She didn't want anyone to overhear her say that.

"I'm pretty sure he won't!" Odd said as he stuffed a meatball into his mouth. He swallowed it whole without chewing it. "The amazing Odd is back! Nothing will keep us from completing our mission!"

"Yeah, and if you say it any louder, the whole school will know," Yumi said she set her drink down.

"They will probably thing we're talking about a video game," Ulrich said. "You want that meatball?"

"No, you can have it. I'm full…."

Ulrich stabbed the meatball with his fork and then stuffed it in his mouth. Odd leaned back and patted his belly. He had a smile of satisfaction on his face.

"Nothing beats Rosa's spaghetti and meatballs," Odd said with glee. "That hit the spot."

Jeremie just shook his head and then glanced at his friends. "Now that Odd has had my portion and we're all full, can we get going?"

Time had gone by fast, Ulrich thought, as he realized that he was now at the factory. It seemed that he had blocked out everything in his head but his own thoughts. It was as if he was in his own little world. But when his feet hit the dry land of the Desert Sector, he snapped back into reality.

"Okay, guys," Jeremie said, "the tower is northeast. Hopefully you can make it there without any trouble."

"We're on it, Jeremie," Aelita.

"How about some vehicles, hmm?" Odd asked.

"You read my mind. They're on their way."

Ulrich saw his bike materialize. He hopped on it without wait for the others, and took off. The sooner they get there, the sooner he could go to sleep, though he rarely sleeps. It didn't take them too long to reach the tower. Aelita jumped off of the Overboard and ran inside.

"What? No monsters?" Odd asked. "Jeremie, are you sure that the monster system isn't bugged?"

"I'm pretty sure Xana wouldn't mess himself up," Jeremie said.

"There's something fishy going on," Yumi said. "I don't like the looks of this, Jeremie."

"Keep your guard up. You all have to go to Sector 5 once Aelita is done."

"I have a feeling that's where Xana is keeping is monsters focused," Ulrich said coldly. "He's letting us warm up and then he'll go in for the kill."

"Just stay cool for now," Jeremie said with a hint of worry. The three of them waited in silence while Jeremie went to talk to Aelita to see how everything was turning out.

"So, Odd," Ulrich said, "how was the hospital?"

"Ugh, it was terrible! Though, the nurse was a looker!" Odd said as he hopped onto a rock with a catlike motion.

"It wasn't all that bad, then," Yumi stated. She glanced up at the tower and let out a deep breath that she has been holding. Ulrich could read the fear in her eyes.

Aelita came out of the tower and directed them to a ledge. They were quickly transported to Sector 5. As they landed onto the starting point, Ulrich felt a shiver go down his spine.

"Let's stick together," he said. Aelita's eyes immediately locked with his. She trusted his instinct. She nodded and the four of them started to head for the opening in the wall. They came to an opening with no other openings. Aelita bit her lip in frustration.

"Jeremie, where now? There are no openings—" Aelita said. The path behind them collapsed until the four of them were standing on a single platform with no way of escaping.

"Oh no!" Yumi said as she drew her fans. Crawling up the walls of the end platforms far away from them were Creepers. There were hundreds of them, and they wouldn't stop coming.

"Damn it!" Ulrich growled as he drew his sword. "I knew it was a trap!"

"What now, Einstein?!" Odd yelled. The Creepers were staring at them, but not moving.

"We need a distraction! If Aelita can make it to the other side, then we'll be home free!"

"I'll stay," Ulrich said.

"Ulrich—" Yumi and Aelita said in unison.

"Aelita, just go. Yumi, you better go with her."

"No, I'm staying—" she protested. Ulrich glared at her.

"How about I help Aelita and come back over? Does that settle it?" Odd asked. Ulrich and Yumi looked at him and then at each other. Ulrich's heart started to sink. But he nodded. The vehicles appeared, and Ulrich hopped on his Over Bike, giving Yumi one more glance before leaving.

"Ulrich, there is a hole you can go through. It should be enough that the monsters will follow and die in the channel," Jeremie said. Ulrich could hear Odd cheering in the back round, signaling that he dropped off Aelita with success.

"OVER HERE!" Ulrich yelled. The Creepers turned their attention towards him. He gulped and then sped away, avoiding as many lasers being fired at him as possible. One hit his back, almost sending him flying over the handlebars, but he managed to stay on his seat. Odd was also luring the Creepers away by doing his fancy tricks in the air. Ulrich almost got hit with Yumi's fans a dozen times, but each time they flew by him, it killed a row of Creepers. He drove through the channel, leaving all the Creepers to die as they tried to follow him. He came out to the mainstream, where he faced a bigger problem.

"Whoa!" Odd said. He must've followed Ulrich through the channel.

"Jeremie, what the hell is that?!" Ulrich shouted. It was a giant Manta Ray. It was bigger than the average size; the size of the Colossal that Ulrich had to fight once in the Ice Sector.

"I don't know," Jeremie said, clearly just as shocked as them. The Ray started to come near them. It was faster than it looked. Ulrich and Odd started to fly away as quickly as they could. But Odd backtracked and flew towards it. If Ulrich could keep the Ray occupied, then Odd could try and kill it. The Ray fired a beam that almost hit Ulrich. It wasn't an average beam. It was the beam of death. He looked behind him, and saw Yumi come up behind the Ray. As she threw her fans, it hit the Ray in the back, weakening it, but the tail of the Ray hit her off of the Over Wing.

"YUMI!" Ulrich yelled. He started to fly over towards her as she fell. Her scream pierced his ears. He could imagine her vanishing into the digital sea. He sped up and zoomed quickly over to her. The Ray was following him. Just as Yumi's foot scratched the surface of the sea, Ulrich reached out his hand to her. Yumi reached up and grabbed his hand. He flew up and away from the digital sea with Yumi hanging on.

Odd went in front of the Ray to direct its attention away from Ulrich. The Ray followed Odd and left Ulrich alone. Ulrich got a chance to finally pull Yumi up onto his bike. He leaned over and grabbed her other hand. He pulled her up, until she was able to climb on. She sat behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Thanks, Ulrich," Yumi said as she breathed heavily. "I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything," he said as he began to ride over to Odd.

"You have to kill that Ray before it gets Aelita! When it fires its death beam, that's when you're able to kill it," Jeremie said.

"Figures," Ulrich said bitterly. "Are you ready for a sacrifice?"

"Do I have a choice?" Yumi asked.

"No." Ulrich flew next to Odd and nodded to him. Yumi seemed confused. But she quickly got what he saying as Odd was picked her up.

"NO!" Yumi yelled. But Odd pulled her up as Ulrich raced ahead.

"Sorry, Yumi, but you're not going to be sacrificed today," Ulrich said. He turned around to face the monster. He heard its death beam charge up. He got one good look at Yumi as she watched in horror. He had never seen that kind of horror in her eyes. It was normal for one of them to do self-sacrifice, but this was different. Ulrich was blinded by a white light as the beam engulfed him.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was crammed in the scanner. The doors opened, and he was lying half in and out of it. He didn't move. He couldn't get the image of Yumi out of his head. He has never seen that look in her eyes before. _What's gotten into her? _Ulrich thought. The other scanner doors opened, and Odd stepped out quickly.

"Where are the others?" Ulrich asked as he remained on the floor.

"They—" Odd was gathering his breath. "Boy, that scanner knocks the wind out of you…. They're still in Lyoko. The Ray is gone but Aelita is having some trouble—do you want some help off of the floor?"

"Nah, I got it," Ulrich said as he got up off the floor. The third scanner doors opened and there was Yumi curled up in a ball. She rose up slowly and crawled her way out. Ulrich got up, and helped Yumi off of the ground. She took a hold of his arms and used them to pull herself up.

"I'll go see if everything is alright with Jeremie," Odd said as he entered the elevator. Ulrich and Yumi didn't look at him.

Ulrich released Yumi as he heard the doors to the elevator shut. Yumi was staring him down with wide eyes. It wasn't like her to be silent. And it certainly wasn't like her to be scared.

"When did they tell you?" Ulrich asked quietly.

"They didn't tell me, Ulrich," Yumi said hoarsely. The way their eyes connected was powerful. It was the strongest connection that they had; they could practically read each other's mind. But right now, it was cloudy.

"Then how do you know?"

"I heard Odd telling Aelita about your sleeping conditions as we were heading over here. It started to make sense. I know what your fear is, Ulrich."

He remembered how he ran ahead of the others on the way over to the sewage entrance to make sure the coast was clear. Of course, Odd had to open his big mouth. But it wasn't Odd's fault entirely. It was Ulrich's fault too for not telling her.

"Don't be scared," Ulrich said bitterly, "because X.A.N.A. will take advantage of your fears." He took a step closer to Yumi, and clenched his hands into fists. He could feel his blood boil underneath his skin, and his face turning a deep red color. He gritted his teeth together and he glared at Yumi. "I'm sorry if I'm causing you this pain, Yumi! But…UGH!" He started to walk towards the elevator, but she grabbed his wrist and turned him around violently. She had a tight grip on him.

"But _what?_" she said darkly.

"I afraid of losing you! You know that! Especially in this situation!" he yelled as he jerked his wrist from her grasp. "And I know you hate all that bullshit, but it's true! I'm sorry if I care for my best friend!"

The scanner doors slid open, and Aelita stepped out, almost collapsing to the ground. Ulrich rushed to her side, and caught her before she dropped to her knees. His tone of voice changed to a softer tone as he helped her to the elevator. "You alright, Princess?"

"Just fine, thanks, Ulrich," Aelita said as she gave him a weak smile. "I'm able to walk." She showed him by walking into the elevator. "Come on now; let's go see what Jeremie has to say."

"Just a second, Aelita," Yumi said. "Ulrich and I need to finish something."

"Oh…alright then," Aelita said hesitantly as she read Ulrich's eyes again. Ulrich bit his lip hard as the elevator doors closed. There was a long moment of silence between them. Ulrich shook his head slowly and put his face in his hands. He rubbed his eyes and then looked at Yumi and saw that she was still there, staring at him with gentle eyes.

"How did we get here?" Yumi asked quietly. "I used to know you so well."

He used to read her every thought and her every move. But it felt like it all collapsed in his lap.

"I don't know, Yumi," Ulrich said. Yumi seemed just as aggravated as he was.

"I don't know how I wasn't able to find out what was wrong before hand. It's like you blocked me out—"

"I didn't want you to know!" he snapped.

"Why not?!"

"You would've taken it a different way! You would've thought of our non-existing relationship and say that you can take care of yourself! And then you would've blocked me out, and that would've been awkward—" Ulrich took a deep breath before finishing "—and I didn't want to see X.A.N.A. break us apart! Lyoko may have brought us together, but it's tearing us apart…with William and X.A.N.A.'s attacks…it's too much, Yumi." He let out a heavy sigh and then leaned up against the wall. "It's like our friendship is going down the drain, and it's all because of me."

"But the way you left me behind to go kill yourself in Lyoko? You won't get a second chance at life if you do that in reality! Are you really going to do that?! Because if you die, your death won't solve a problem, and you won't get another chance to live! It'll just make me and everyone else miserable! This is not a game, Ulrich! You can't just press the Reset button and restart everything! We have one life, and if we screw up, we're pretty much done for."

"I did it so we could complete the mission! It's normal for us to take self-sacrifices! You know that!"

"It's not the same if you do that in real life."

"Oh, what about you? You just flung yourself towards the Ray—"

"How the hell was I supposed to know that it was going to hit me? It could've hit anyone of us. The Ray could've gotten Odd, and you would've gone and saved him too!"

"But the thought of you getting killed is mortifying!" He grabbed her by her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. Ulrich then started to yell, shaking her as he did so, "ESPECIALLY WHEN X.A.N.A. IS AFTER ME, AND THROUGH ME, HE'S TRYING TO KILL YOU!"

Yumi glanced down at her shoes and let the awkward silence linger in the air. Ulrich let go of her, and ran his hands through his hair. His brain was pounding and it was aching.

"If you just told me the truth—" she said quietly.

"But is it always the best to tell the truth?" Ulrich asked through gritted teeth. "Is it always the best option? There are some things that we need to keep to ourselves. And my fear was one of them."

Yumi didn't respond. He couldn't tell if she was angry or not. She chewed on her lip briefly before saying, "The only thing I fear is us not being together at the end. I know that our relationship is stronger than the others, but to keep it strong, you need me to tell me what's wrong with you. Ulrich, you've been there for me many times…. X.A.N.A. is targeting you. I'll be there for you just as you've been there for me. Don't become arrogant because of this stupid situation. You can worry about me, but have faith, will you? I know you have it."

"But you don't know the pain it's been causing me. You don't know the images I've seen." He began shaking. "It's disturbing, Yumi. It's burned into my skull, pulses through my veins, pumps into my heart, coded in my blood." Yumi stepped closer to him, almost in a touching reach. "I've already lost our relationship, but I don't want to lose you. I don't want it to be me that may cause your death because of my fear."

"X.A.N.A.'s playing with your mind, your emotions—"

"And it's got the best of me," Ulrich whispered. "It's like a disease that can't be cured. It's going to make me ill until the time comes to end it with death." He shuddered at the thought of the image of Yumi lying on the ground, bleeding uncontrollably. "I can't let that happen…." His voice was shaking. "I won't let that happen." The images made him angry and upset. His hands curled into fists. But he was surprised as he felt Yumi wrap her arms around him. He realized at this point that X.A.N.A. was winning the battle in his head. But as Yumi squeezed him tighter, he could feel something connect again that had been lost a long time ago. Ulrich cupped his best friend's face in his hands and put his forehead against hers; with his growth spurt, it was easy for him to achieve that move.

"Don't make me get mad at you," Yumi said.

"I'll try not to."

"Don't give up…don't give in."

"I can never give up on you…."

Yumi put her head on his shoulder, and Ulrich wrapped his arms around her. He wasn't going to be the death of her. _I need to stop being a little girl and fight, _he thought bitterly to himself as he buried his face in Yumi's hair. His heart was beating at a rapid pace. _I won't be defeated…I won't let my guard down. _

At that point, it was as if Yumi read his thoughts, because she looked at him. She smiled weakly at him and rustled his hair with her slender fingers. "That's the Ulrich I know," she said. She pressed the button for the elevator, and second later, it came. The two of them stepped in the elevator; the tension between them because to decline, but slowly. Ulrich was still a tad mad, and so was Yumi. As they entered the lab, the other three didn't look at them.

"About time," Odd said, his eyes glued to the computer screen.

"Odd," Aelita said, casting him a dark glare. Jeremie cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Congratulations, guys! We were able to fully restore the basics!" Jeremie said happily. "And as a bonus, we were able to recover some other lost data that would've taken weeks for me to get!"

"Yahoo!" Odd yelled in excitement. "I say we have a party tomorrow in our room! We'll celebrate this victory!"

"And that you've returned safely from the hospital," Aelita added.

"Does that sound alright to you, Ulrich?" Odd asked.

"A little party couldn't hurt," Ulrich said, suddenly going from angry to happy. Jeremie took his headset off and placed it on his keyboard.

"Alright, guys, lets head back. I have a test tomorrow, and I need to study," he said. Odd and Aelita both scoffed and rolled their eyes.

"Like you need to cram anything else into that head of yours," Odd said. Jeremie glared at him.

The gang exited the lab, all in a good mood. Ulrich and Yumi didn't talk to each other, but they stayed close. Ulrich could tell that Yumi was listening to Jeremie and Aelita's conversation about the missing information they had collected. But he zoned out of it. He heard something near by snap, and it wasn't some small animal. The low sound of footsteps traveled near them. His feet stopped moving and they stayed planted on the ground.

"Ulrich?" Yumi said. His head began to pound rapidly. The pain was killing him and it felt like a hammer was driving a nail into his brain. He hadn't realized that he had been breathing heavily or groaning until Yumi placed a hand on his shoulders. As soon as he looked into her eyes, he saw images from his nightmare flash before him. But he was mostly seeing red. It was as if Yumi could see what he was saying, because she was mirroring his expression. He yelled out in pain as he saw the image of not Yumi, but himself lying on the ground bleeding. It flickered in his brain like a strobe light. He blocked out his friends' voices and concentrated on his thoughts. He needed to see what was happening.

_What is coming? _Ulrich thought. There was a serious of images flashing through his mind, until he said, "Jeremie, Odd, take Aelita back to the school!"

"Ulrich, what—?" Jeremie began to ask, but Ulrich glared at him.

"Don't ask questions!" he snapped. "Just do it!"

"What about Yumi?" Odd asked. "We can't take her back to the school! Jim will flip!"

Ulrich's eyes locked with Yumi's. She didn't look as scared as she did in the scanner room. They didn't have to say anything to understand what they had to do. Ulrich's stomach sank as he heard a growling sound. The gang turned to see what it was. It was a pack of wolves. They were staring at them with hungry eyes; X.A.N.A.'s eyes.

"Go!" Ulrich yelled. He and Yumi separated from the others, and took off running. He could hear the dogs behind them; their pace was explicitly fast.

He felt one of the dogs jump on him, and tackle him to the ground. The dog was close to ripping off his face, but he had managed to throw the dog off of him. As soon as he got up, he saw that Yumi was gone.

"YUMI?!" Ulrich yelled. He began to go in circles, seeing if he can spot her. "YUMI—?!" As he turned around he felt a hand clasp over his mouth. He saw that it was her, and he let a sigh of relief as she removed her hand.

"Let's keep going," she breathed. She walked ahead, leading the way to the street that was still a ways to go. As she past a large tree, something grabbed her.

"YUMI!" Ulrich yelled. He saw her get thrown and slammed into a tree. Just as he was about to run from her, a man stepped out from behind the tree. Ulrich could see the sign of X.A.N.A. in his eyes. But the rest of the man was shadowed. Ulrich tried to scramble over to Yumi, but the man grabbed him and he took a blow to his stomach. He staggered backwards and fell over a tree root. He felt a fist punch him in the face, and a foot jab him in his lower ribs. As he took more blows to his body, he tasted a metallic liquid in his mouth, find out that it was his own blood.

He managed to throw the man off of him, and tried as he could to defeat him. Ulrich found himself wrestling with the man. He got his revenge by beating the hell of X.A.N.A.'s personal hit man. His head was still pounding heavily, but it was getting worse. His body was trying to tell him that he shouldn't go any further with the fight, but he started to go past his limits. Pushing past his limits was a bad mistake, for he found himself being thrown to the ground. He could feel blood leak from the corner of his mouth. His body was paralyzed. The man stood over him with what seemed to be a blunt object. He was standing over Ulrich with angry eyes.

"No, this can't happen," Ulrich whispered.

But the man fell over to the side forcefully. Standing behind the man was Yumi with a giant spiky branch. She gasped at Ulrich, and dropped the branch. She pulled him up carefully, and practically carried him through the woods. Ulrich couldn't help but cling to her as she helped him. "I'm…tired—"

"Shh," Yumi hushed, "don't talk. Save your breath."

He had the feeling that X.A.N.A. was still following them. But he felt relief when he felt his foot hit concrete. The dim light from the street light blinded him. "Hang, on, Ulrich. We're almost there," Yumi said.

They finally made it to her house. The sound of the door closing behind them made him feel safe. And her family wasn't home, which made it better. Yumi rushed him upstairs and forced him into the bathroom. Ulrich leaned up against the counter, ready to collapse. He looked at himself in the mirror and was horrified at his image. He looked like he just got out of a mental institution. He was surprised when he heard water run, and saw that Yumi was filling up the tub. When she turned around to face Ulrich, he just nodded, and she left. She closed the door behind her, and left him all alone.

The room smelt like Japanese blossoms. It smelt just like her. The door reopened and Yumi said, "Here are some fresh clothes. Just leave yours outside the door, and we can washthem." She placed a pile of clothes beside him.

"Can I keep my boxers?"

"There is a new pair that hasn't even been used. It's fresh out of the bag."

"Oh, okay then."

"I know it's awkward, but I think you'll feel better once your clothes are washed."  
"Will you be able to get the blood out?"  
"I think I can."

"Yumi—"

"Take your time. There's another bathroom that I can use, so don't worry. I'll call Jeremie and tell him we're okay." Yumi then left him alone again. He sighed softly and stripped down to his birthday suit. He then did as what Yumi instructed and left his blood stained clothes outside the door.

As he sunk into the hot bath, he felt his muscles relax. It sent a tingly feeling through them, because before they were constricted and filled with pain. From the tub, he looked in the mirror again and saw a giant gash on his temple, blood, still coming from it. He dunked his head underwater and then rose for air. His face didn't look as bad as he thought it would've been. There was a scratch along his jaw, and one on the side of his nose. He felt a bruise on the top of his head, and was lucky that it wasn't on his cheek, where it should've been. His body had been torn up from the falls and attacks.

He applied soap to his wounds and it stung. It was almost like he was pouring salt on it. He washed up quickly before relaxing. His closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep. It felt like he drifted off into a small slumber, because when he opened his eyes, the water wasn't as hot. He got out of the tub, and dried himself with a towel that Yumi had supplied him. He drained the tub as he dried off, and put on the pair of pajamas that were left for him.

Ulrich felt better as pulled the pair of black pajama pants on. He stared at his chest, looking at the nasty scratch that was there in which he had no idea how it _got _there. He opened the door and walked down the hall. He knocked on the door to Yumi's room, and the door creaked open. Yumi was in a pair of dark green pajama pants with a black tank top on. She was throwing her clothes in the hamper. Her room also smelt like Japanese blossoms.

The feeling that he got when she turned around to look at him pierced his heart. He could read the sadness in her eyes. He entered her room even further, closing the door behind him.

"Yumi—" Ulrich began. But he got cut off as she came crashing into him. She was squeezing him tightly, afraid to let him go. He found his arms wrap around her waist. His heart began to beat loudly as he hugged her back. Yumi slowly backed away from him and examined his body.

"I'll be right back," she said. Before Ulrich knew it, she was out of the room. It didn't take her long to reappear. She had a first-aid kit with her. She opened it, took out a bandage roll.

"I suppose a simple band-aid isn't going to seal this, is it?" Ulrich asked with a cheeky grin. Yumi gave him a soft smile, realizing that he was trying to cheer her up.

"No," she said as she placed a bandage over the cut on his temple. He closed his eyes as she patched him up. She seemed fine when he bandaged his leg and arm, but her hands trembled as her hands landed on his chest. He glanced at her as she placed the bandage across the cut on his chest. A deep crimson filled her pale cheeks. One of her hands moved over to where his heart was. Ulrich's face was now turning red.

"Yumi," Ulrich said, finally getting a chance to say her name. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what? You apologize _way _to much, you know that?"

He didn't answer back right away. He was surprised that he wasn't shaking or trembling in front of her. Yumi then whispered, "What are you sorry for?" He couldn't help but reaching up and cupping her face with his hands. It was time for the mask to come off and reveal his true emotions.

"Everything," he whispered.

"It isn't your fault that we got attacked—"

"No, I mean, I'm sorry for everything that I've ever done to make you feel like you hate me. Just pure pain. I know that sounds cheesy and cliché, but I know that I've caused you so much trouble with this whole relationship problem and for me caring so much…." Ulrich's hands moved down to her waist. He could feel Yumi relax more. It made him feel better to know that she was comfortable. "I've been foolish and arrogant to you. Stupid, jaded, and reckless. But, most of all—"

Ulrich took a deep breath that was shaky. He thought Yumi was going to say something but she didn't. She was waiting for him to finish, though he had a feeling that she knew what cliché line was coming next. She just wanted to hear it, to make sure that he wasn't lying. "I'm sorry for falling in love with you—"

Yumi cut him off but pressing her lips against his. He was shocked. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. But he parted. It wasn't to breathe; it wasn't because someone was calling his cell phone. It was because he thought that it was a mistake. But as he began to decode Yumi's mind, he could feel that it wasn't mistake. He thought that this forbidden love was a sin or that it was a sin to feel love towards her. It could've been anyone else, but Ulrich had fallen for his best friend.

He leaned in and closed the gap between them. He pulled her into an embrace, deepening the kiss. The way that she kissed him back was the best feeling that one could ever receive. He didn't need to feel the sexual feeling to know that she loved him back. It was just the way he could taste it on her lips. Just as she parted to breathe, he leaned in and took her in another breathless kiss, taking control of the situation. The way their lips moved together was electrifying. It left his head spinning and his heart beating fast. The adrenaline rushed through his veins and pumped into his heart. If he could, he would go too far with this kiss. He parted from it, and held her face in his hands. The only sound that he heard was their breathing and his heart beating.

"This is wrong," Ulrich said. Yumi leaned in and kissed him again. Her hands were placed upon his chest that felt like it was on fire. He felt her draw patterns gently into his skin. He didn't care if he was too young for love. Yumi was the one who fit the missing piece to his heart. She knew him better than anyone else. She was the one who understood what he was going through. He parted to breathe. "Yumi...." Ulrich took a step back from her, and bowed his head to avoid eye contact. "We can't...I shouldn't have said that I---" But he stopped himself. How could he be so stupid? He just blabbed out his secret. The kiss must've meant something though.... But he still felt like a complete fool.

As much as he wanted to kiss her again, he held himself back from doing so. He finally looked up at her, and felt his body grow numb. There was a deep sadness in her eyes, but she understood why he was ending this moment.

"We're friends...remember?" he asked quietly.

"Right," Yumi agreed. But by the way she said it, Ulrich knew she forced herself to agree. "But you're not leaving, are you?"

Ulrich gave her a half smile.

"I think you would hold me back if I said no. And I'm really in no condition to go back anyway," he said. Yumi nodded and bit her lip. He had never seen her in such a vulnerable state. "I'll stay as along as you want me too. I'm not going anywhere…."

Yumi hugged him, despite the urge that was attacking him to kiss her again. To forget about the whole Fear mess, and be carefree for one night. It was too risky though. He didn't want to let go of her just yet, but he forced himself to. Ulrich insisted on sleeping on the little bed set up Yumi made for him earlier to avoid temptation. But that night, as he drifted off into sleep, he did not experience a nightmare that has been haunting him.

* * *

Sorry for the longness of wait and of this chapter, and the terrible fact that I did not edit, because I have school in the morning, and I don't have the time to do it. But, I hope you guys liked this chapter. And sorry for the clicheness of this chapter. But PLEASE REVIEW!

DivineRose2392


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